


All the Things We Hide in Water

by MagnoliaMuse



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Flashback, Lúcio starts as a jerk, Manipulation, Mental Abuse, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Physical Abuse, Slow Burn, Vishkar Corporation, athena knows everything, lots of cooking, vishkar academy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-03-31 17:15:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 48,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13979808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagnoliaMuse/pseuds/MagnoliaMuse
Summary: “Satya because of your recent failures Viskar has decided you are no longer an asset … you have been replaced, as of today you no longer exist in this world, all records of you have been purged and as far as anyone is concerned you died during the disaster in Hyderabad.” River raised the weapon aiming it as Satya.“I have been tasked with apprehending and liquidating you.”.o. .o. .o. .o. .o. .o.This is a story of Satya Vaswani, architect and prodigy.Satya did not plan for her life to change so dramatically but most people don't.She never expected the company she'd been apart of for most of her life to abandon her.But they did and now she has to start over and she has plenty of help along the way.





	1. Chapter 1

If Satya had to find a positive in the current situation it would have to be that at least the cell she was being held in was unassuming. Not that holding cells were generally busy, captors didn’t really worry about whether detainees found their surroundings aesthetically pleasing but this one wasn't worn drab concrete which  one would expect.

There were no cracks or marks in the walls that shouldn’t be there. No curious stains. Instead the smooth wall were almost a pearly white in the dim light. She was sitting in the corner furthest from the wall her head resting against it. One arm, her prosthetic, curled in her lap the other resting on her knee her legs tucked beside her. Her left leg, was falling asleep the tingling numbness slowly spreading throughout it.

She grit her teeth and slowly unfurled her legs moving as little as possible but it was in vain, the movement jostled her arm causing pain to shoot through it.  She tries not to react but a low hiss slipped from her and the room spun for a moment. In some ways she was still confused as to how she got here.

Logically she could replay the events in her mind. She had been attempting to infiltrate another one of Vishkar’s competitors, some mysterious entity they had noticed gaining power. There had been so many unknowns they had sent her to find out just one thing: their name. That had been harder to realize than she had thought it would be.

For weeks she had been slipping into the offices the larger company was using as fronts, rifling through their documents and copying their computer files to look over and send back to Vishkar, but so far nothing. How could a nameless faceless, multi-national corporation succeed with as much success as they had?

The previous night she’d been doing the same thing, helping herself to the files in the small Spanish office building. She hadn’t been to Spain before but it reminded her of Rio De Janeiro perhaps it was the Latin influence. She hadn't visited Rio since the opening of the new Viskar city center. Since then construction had all but stopped because of the rise in protests against the Vishkar corporation. The local government seemed to be doing nothing to stop them either. In fact they were bringing their own new concerns, worried that Viskar was enacting restrictions that they had not agreed upon.

Satya had been sent home shortly after the center had opened  in favor of sending her senior to do the negotiations in person but still work had stagnated. She’d seen her share of the protests the loud chaotic chanting in English and Portuguese, the cacophonous sounds  of music both drowning the chanting and enhancing it. Celebrities too, had joined the protest: athletes and musicians leading the chants, she remembered seeing a dj back the protest she'd personally witnessed. She was glad she had been sent away.  But now if she traveled back she wondered if during the nights the protests calmed and were replaced by the quieter ambiance.

She’d broken into yet another nameless building Viskar had deemed necessary to look into. The building was practically empty. There were only a few desks holding old computers. She quickly began sorting through the paper files after she placed a thumb drive into the computer to copy everything on them. Her handler confirming the status of the file upload in her ear.

Then there had been pain. Someone had grabbed her prosthetic arm twisting it behind her with a sickening pop and synthetic and real nerves registered the dislocation. Another hand had ripped her actualizer from her head her handlers voice faded. That hand then snaked around her throat cutting off her air supply and she had passed out, waking in this small cell.

She resisted the urge to shiver, a cold sweat had broken out across her body hair stuck to her forehead. She had heard nothing since she had arrived.  She focused on her breathing to distract her from the pain. She didn’t let her mind wonder about the future. If she had had her actualizer it would be easier for her to leave, even with the dislocated shoulder but without it she was helpless.

Dun da da-da dun... dun dun

Her eyes jerked to the door as the knock sounded again. She shifted again her desire to appear in control for whatever was to come trumping her pain for the moment. The door slide open and Satya was greeted by a familiar face.

“Well, “ River said, “ A lopsided grin on her face, “You’ve definitely gotten yourself in a pickle Satya,” She leaned against the door frame as she spoke.

“When conducting business such as this the use of the appropriate moniker is not just advised but required.” Satya’s relief and annoyance mingled as she spoke at the figure before her.

“Pft, typical, even when saving your ass you can’t manage to lower that nose of yours,”

“I know, I know, I’m working on it,” River said to a voice Satya couldn’t hear, “Symmetra located moving to phase two.” River sauntered towards her, “Damn that looks painful,” she said reaching into a small bag on her hip and pulling out a small cylinder. She set it against Satya’s thigh a pressed down. Satya jolted as the needle struck her. Immediately the pain in her arm started to fade. River offered her a hand to help her stand and Satya took it pulling herself to her feet.

The two women moved from the small room. Satya followed River closely as she lead her through the winding structure. They faced no opposition.

“Who was behind this,” Satya asked as they moved she wanted to know what had gone wrong but knew it would have to wait.

“They think it was Talon, they don’t know why, there hasn’t been any established connection between the two groups before.” They’d entered what looked like a waiting area. A card table was set up in one corner. Satya’s heart sank as she saw the bodies slumped around it. Some still sitting at the table.

“Never knew what hit them.” River said with a smile which Satya returned absentmindedly to avoid showing her frustration. They exited the building and Satya almost sighed with relief as the warm dry air hit her and she could hear something other than her own heartbeat. She continued to follow River away from the building. After about 10 minutes they stopped in a dark alleyway. River turned to look at her.

“retrieval complete, Symmetra and I are safely away from the facility.”

River relayed to her Vishkar handler.  She opened her bag to pull out her weapon, Satya caught a glimpse her actualizer.

“River, would you return my actualizer, I have not had contact with my handler since it was removed.”

“He’s aware of the situation,” River replied nonchalantly.

“Yes but I would feel more comfortable having it in my possession.”   

“I have been instructed not to return it to you,” she said.

“Why?”

Satya watch as River’s hand, the one holding her weapon, twitched. River signed long and dramatically, her eyes glinted and a wide cheshire smile split across her face. It was a look Satya knew all too well although she’d never been on the receiving end of it. She shivered.

“Satya because of your recent failures Viskar has decided you are no longer an asset … you have been replaced, as of today you no longer exist in this world, all records of you have been purged and as far as anyone is concerned you died during the disaster in Hyderabad.” River raised the weapon aiming it as Satya.

“I have been tasked with apprehending and liquidating you.”

“Why?”

“Your actions here in Madrid have compromised Vishkar and because of that Vishkar can not have any connection with you. Your actualizer has been reclaimed. And I am going  to kill you.”

"Bye, bye,” River said with a little wave before engaging her weapon. The beam struck Satya in the chest and she cried as the burning pain spread throughout her entire body. her toes and fingers began to go numb and her vision began to fog over.

“Hey!” A new voice cried out and the beam stopped. Satya her heart hammered in her ears and she collapsed. She heard River give a small tsk and then the sounds of her footsteps retreating down the alley. New heavier footsteps approached rough hands gripped her shoulders.

“Are you alright,” a concerned voice asked, “Jose, go after them.”

“No!,” Satya managed, “too dangerous, please.” River wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who went after her and Satya was confused as to why she had even run in the first place. River was not one to leave loose ends. Maybe she assumed Satya was already too far gone. And maybe she was right a shiver ran through her body and her chest throbbed. The injection River had given her earlier was keeping her from feeling some of the pain but she did not what to think what would happen as it started to wear off but she knew it would be intense.

“We’ll call you an ambulance,” Her samaritans said.

“No,” She answered again,” Her mind jumped through her options, as limited as they were. She could choose to die here in this alley or some Spanish hospital because normal facilities wouldn’t be able to handle her injuries or she could hope the one group who could help her would take pity on her. Either way she could be dead because she couldn’t even reliably contact them but then something sparked in the back or her mind.

“6837-92824,” she rattled off

“What?”

“Contact 6837-92824,” she said repeating the number.

“6837-92824, 6837-92824, 6837-92824,”She fell into a trance repeating the number over and over until all else became background noise and then it faded completely.

Her samaritans did not try and move her but one left and returned with a cool rag to wipe her face and another to lay over her burns. Not an hour later she heard new sounds that broke through her chanting. She felt a wave of warmth wash over her as she heard the telltale sound of an biotic field being engaged. Her chanting stopped.

“She stopped, is she alright,” One of her samaritans asked.

“Please leave this to us, thank you for your help, “ A new voice said warm and kind, she sighed as she felt a sedative injected into her arm and sank into a less troubled rest. She did not dream.


	2. Chapter 2

When she woke she did not feel rested but she was also no longer in pain. She let  her relax in the moment of temporary relief. She smelled disinfectant. Satya opened her eyes to see a bright white roof. She looked around without moving, across the room a large holo hung, turned off, a small chair sat in the corner with a small table beside it. 

Apeace lily rested on it. She looked down and saw her wrist was restrained and an IV in her arm. Her damaged prosthetic had been removed. The covers of hospital bed were tucked tightly around her to her waist.

Her damaged uniform had been replaced with a light grey hospital gown. The door slide open and the doctor appeared. Her blonde hair was pulled back and she wore a crisp white lab coat. 

“Ah you’re awake, good, how do you feel?” She asked. Satya didn’t respond immediately, she recognized Dr. Ziegler instantly for a roster of former Overwatch members and from her many recent publications.

“Do you know where you are?” She continued after Satya did not answer.

“More or less,” Satya replied taking the risk to trust her voice, “And no I am not in any pain, at the moment.”

“Good,” Dr. Ziegler said with a smile making a note on her tablet.

“Are you hungry I can have something brought to you. Your shoulder has been treated and the artificial nerves have been disengaged and repaired, normal there would be some swelling, and you may have had quite a bit up pain for a few weeks, but my technology has almost fully treated your injury and after the required wait period I can continue the therapy. Your prosthetic was also damaged and until it is repaired it can not be reconnected.”

 “I understand, how long have I been here” Satya said.

“About 72 hours. The witnesses who saw your attack say you were struck with some kind of weapon. And you had severe burns and bruising on your chest…” Dr. Ziegler said, “I was able to heal them as well, they do not appear to have caused any permanent damage.

“I will continue to monitor the injury, however,  just in case some complication develops. The real danger was your body being in shock for too long because of your injured shoulder you should be in no danger now. 

She paused for a moment giving Satya space to respond and then she continued.

“If you are feeling well enough we would like to debrief you and discuss the situation. But if you would like I can give you a few more days of rest before that. 

“That will not be necessary I understand that my presence here must be raising more than a few questions and I will do my best to be amicable.”

“Alright, I will send word that you are feeling well enough to meet with them. Until then I must insist you rest.”

“I have no intentions of doing anything else,” She said, “Oh and Dr. Ziegler thank you and thank everyone else for responding to my call.”

Dr. Ziegler nodded slowly, almost a bow. 

“I will come check on you again in an hour or so. If you need anything there is a call button just there, please rest.”

Satya hovered between sleep and wakefulness for the next hour or so later the door slide open and Dr. Ziegler reappeared.

“Did I wake you?” She asked 

“No not really,”

“How are you feeling?” She asked, “ I’ve brought you something to eat if you are feeling up to it.”

“ I am feeling alright,” Satya answered. 

“Good let me just record your vitals then I’ll have him bring it in.”  She quickly recorded the information from a holo vid Satya could not see behind her and checked her IV. 

“Could that be removed now,” Satya asked, “I am not fond of the idea of trying to eat with it.”

“You are stable now and conscious so I do not think it is necessary anymore.” Satya focused on the door while Dr. Ziegler removed the IV placing a bandage over the small hole. Her wrist was still restrained however. But Dr. Ziegler unfastened it without hesitation. She moved to set a tray table so Satya could remain in bed while she ate.

“If it is not too much more to ask may I eat at that little table, I know I many have some weakness but the prolonged period of inactivity has made me... antsy.”

“I will trust you to not push yourself past your limits” Dr. Ziegler said. 

“All right Genji, go ahead and set the tray on the table.” Dr. Ziegler called over her shoulder as she helped Satya slip on a robe hanging beside her bed. A new figure entered the room, Satya did not recognize him. At first glance he appeared to be an omnic but based on his silhouette she assumed he was a man with an unknown number of cybernetic prosthetics.

It was technology as advanced and likely more advanced than her own prosthetic. She wondered if he too was an old member, one whom she had not been familiar with or if he was part of Ziegler’s post fall research. 

Somepart of her mind wanted to file the knowledge away to help give credit to the rumor that Overwatch was indeed starting up again, abet  this time a rogue organization, but she had already confirmed that for herself, as she was here in the first place. Still she would be interesting to see how many of the old members were answering the call. 

“Genji Shimada,” Dr. Ziegler introduced him as he crossed the room carrying the tray Dr. Ziegler had mentioned and set it down as instructed and backed away not leaving the room.

Satya slowly moved her legs over the side of the bed careful not to jostle her injury. But the pain medication did its job well. The tile floor was cool but not unbearable as her bare feet touched it. 

She slide from the bed increasing the weight she placed on her weak legs in increments to avoid stumbling and being demoted to bed rest again. Dr. Ziegler placed a hand gently on her back ready to help if necessary. The fact that Satya was missing her prosthetic would have to be considered as she balanced, still slightly woozy. 

She crossed the small room without incident and sat down in front of the little table examining her meal. It was a pasta of some kind stuffed with cheese and surrounded by a brilliantly red meat sauce. There was also a piece of bread resting on a small dish in the eleven ‘o’ clock position a small salad beside it. A cup of water and some kind of pudding cup mirrored them on the opposite side.

Satya’s stomach gave a low rumble, betraying her and she saw Dr. Ziegler’s mouth twitch into a small smile. 

“Please let me know if you need anything else, it has been requested that since you are awake and feeling better, that Genji keep an eye on you for the time being...” She trailed off.

“I understand.”

“Good, well then let either of us know if you need anything” she said again before leaving the room the door sliding closed behind her.

Satya, picked up the fork making the first cut into the manicotti blowing on it slightly when she saw the steam rising from it before taking a bite. She was tempted to say something to Shimada, to ask one of the fifty or so questions swarming in her mind about him, or where she was, or the recalled Overwatch. 

All of her knowledge about Overwatch had been gleamed from public files and those she and her colleges had acquired through less official means. In fact that's how she knew all of the personnel she did. 

She knew Dr. Ziegler’s awards and her involvements with many projects for Overwatch and the humanitarian groups she worked with before and after the fall. She knew her face, had heard her voice from press conferences.

But files could only tell you so much. Or leave things out entirely, she realized glancing at Shimada again. She finished the pasta sopping up the remaining sauce with the bread and leaving the plate almost spotless. 

She took a sip of water. Before tasting the dressing and drizzling it over her salad.  Shimada had not moved from the corner his faceplate masking any emotion. His arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. 

Satya finished off the salad, wondering if the cyborg ate. That had not been something she would have been able to gleam in the files she’d seen anyway.

She looked at the last thing on the tray: the pudding. It’s top was sealed with silver foil which she couldn’t open with one hand unless she wanted use her teeth and that was something she wanted to avoid given her present company. 

Soshe set it back down before finishing the cup of water and standing slowly. Shimanda straightened up as she stood ready to offer assistance or to restrain her if necessary.

“May I use the toilet,” she asked. Shimada nodded opening the door and gesturing for her to go first.  Satya obliged keeping an eye on him as he slipped behind her. 

Dr. Ziegler sat at a desk in the center of the room.

“Done already?” She asked 

“Yes,” Satya answered

“She requested to go to the toilet.” Shimada said, speaking for the first time. Satya twitched, having not expecting it.

“Of course,” Dr. Ziegler said, “It's just over there” She said gesturing  towards the opposite wall. Satya could see the door and the universal plaque on the wall marking it.

“Thank you,” She said taking a step forward. Shimada shadowing her.  He did not follow her into the small room, much to her relief, and when the door slide closed she exhaled.

She leaned against the sink looking at her face after she’d washed her hand. Her hair was a mess but her face had its normal color. She still looked exhausted.  

Sheturned on the tap again and splashed her face. She ran her fingers through her hair. She pulled down the neckline of her gown catching a glance of her bandaged shoulder and then the bruising on her chest.

Her heart twisted as she thought about what had happened, what she had lost. Her nose stung and her vision blurred as tears formed. She clutched at her chest finding comfort in the pain from pressing against the bruise. She’d failed, and she’d lost everything. She’d lost her home, her job, her purpose. She was damaged. She didn’t know what to do but she had to do something. She didn’t want to just sit and disappear. 

Herbreaths were rattled as her chest heaved uncontrollably for a few moments. And slowly she started to regain her composure. An idea glinted in the back of her mind too new for her to even consciously realize it but was there under the water. She looked at her reflection after she had calmed down resting her right hand on the sink leaning in close so her nose almost touched the glass.

“I will correct this, I will not let this mistake destroy me and all that I’ve worked for. “ She said staring into her own golden eyes.

“Order from Chaos,” She whispered closing her eyes repeating the mantra several times. She splashed her face again to wash away the sticky tears before exiting the room.

Shimada had moved. He was now perched on the corner of Dr. Ziegler’s desk twirling something on his fingers while she looked at a holo. If they had heard her meltdown they did not comment. Dr. Ziegler looked up as she approached.

“Hello there,” She said cheerfully, and Satya’s heart jumped, something about Dr. Ziegler's posture bothered her, she looked too still, had she heard?

“Hello” Satya replied questioning why they were exchanging hellos but maybe Dr. Ziegler just didn't have a better way to initiate the conversation.

“I wanted to tell you, if you are feeling up to it, it’s been proposed that we debrief you tomorrow. That gives you another night to rest I asked for more but...”

“Whatever is most convenient for your organization,” Satya replied. “I am feeling alright.”

“Alright then, until then I am going to have to ask you to stay in your room...”

“Understandable,”

“There is a closed holo  that can access a collection of movies and shows we have on file just ask Athena, the bases A.I. She realized Shimada was twirling a shuriken and with another move it reshuffled itself into his arm.

“Thank you,” Satya said a little surprised to hear about the A.I. who had remained silent until now. Shimada held out a hand gesturing for her to go ahead. He stopped outside the room this time as she entered, and turned 

“If you would like a suggestion I recommend G-82659.” He said placing a hand on the pad that would control the door.”

“Thank you,” Satya said again before retreating into her room and the door slide closed. The tray had been removed. She moved toward the bed. Tired despite having slept all day. As she sat and adjusted she looked over at the side table to see it was not entirely empty like she’d thought.

The pudding cup sat there, the foil was removed and a spoon rested across the top. She paused before taking the spoon and having a bite. She ate as much as she could because she couldn't stabilize the cup. Then set the spoon down before laying back and looking at the plain white ceiling. 

“Athena?” She said there was no response besides a quick sequence of different toned beeps. 

“Do you have Satie’s Trois Gymnopedies in your archives?” The holo across from the bed flicked to like pulling up a file to display, beside its entry number was its name and composter: Trois Gymnopedies by Erik Satie.”

“Would you play it please and any others that are similar.” The same beep as before sounded. An image of a star covered sky filled the holo and the soft piano music filtered through unseen speakers. Satya leaned back and closed her eyes focusing on the notes. She fell asleep before the song even ended awaking some time later the lights of the room dimmed. 

What time was it? She had to go to the bathroom again. Satya stood and crept towards the door looking out the little window embedded within. The main room was dark except for a small lamp on Dr. Ziegler’s desk. 

Shemoved to touch the door wondering if it was locked. She lifted a hand towards the control pad in her room but the door slide open before she could reach it.  Her heart leapt wondering what she would find on the other side and hoping they would not think she was trying to cause trouble. The dimmed green light of Shimada's faceplate greeted her.

“I...I’m … excuse me, I was wondering what time it was?” 

“0445,” Shimada said after a moment of silence.

“Thank you, I’d also like to use the toilet again,”

“Of course,” he said gesturing again like he had earlier.  When she was done she again found Shimanda again sitting on Dr. Ziegler’s desk.

“Dr Ziegler left these for you.” He said handing her a paper cup with two white pills and a glass of water, “the medication she gave you earlier should be wearing off soon. I was actually about to ask Athena to wake you.”

“Thank you,” Satya accepted the cup and took the pills with a drink of water.   

“I apologize for putting you in this situation. Being assigned to spend all your time in the medical bay is probably not the most enjoyable.

“I am not the only one, just the only one you’ve seen.” He said then added, “besides I was not assigned I volunteered.”

“Still “ Satya said, “ I apologize for the imposition.” 

“It is no imposition. Ms…” He started 

“Satya, Satya Vaswani.”

“Ms. Vaswani,” Shimada confirmed, “ I am Genji Shimada.”

“I know,” Satya said before she could stop herself. Shimada chuckled before saying.

“You still have a few hours until you need to wake up so please, rest.”

Satya turned and walked back to her room. The door sliding shut behind her she turned and saw the faint outline of green through the window retreating out of sight.

When she woke a few hours later she heard a faint murmuring outside her room. She recognized Dr. Ziegler’s light voice and the metallic echo of Shimada’s. There was also a third voice she couldn’t place. She looked at the holo which was now displaying the time in the lower right corner.

 It said 0830, she’d slept in. She shifted in the bed pulling the robe around her shoulders. The voices outside stopped. Satya heard the knock on the door before it slide open and Dr. Ziegler poked her head in the room.

“Good morning,” She said cheerfully. 

“Good morning,” Satya replied.

“We have breakfast for you and then after Winston would like to have the debriefing.”

“Alright,” Satya said, thinking, Until now the force behind the rumored revival of Overwatch had been unknown. But she knew of Winston, the same way she knew of Dr. Ziegler: from Vishkar intelligence and she wondered if he was the instigator of the recall.  

She ate her oatmeal quickly and couldn’t help but notice that the lid of the fruit cup had already been removed. Shimada did not hover over her this time and she ate in solitude. When she was done she stood and approached the still open door.  

“Ah, are you done?” Dr. Ziegler asked not really looking for an answer. Satya noticed she was alone in the office. 

“I asked the other two to run an errand for me, they should be back in a bit minutes. I’d like to finish healing your burn and then you can shower if you’d like?”

“Alright”

“Please sit,” 

Satya sat in an examination chair as Dr. Ziegler unfastened the closures at the shoulders of the gown peeling it down  to reveal Satya’s shoulder and burned chest. She removed the bandages carefully and slipped on a small glove. 

Twocords ran from the top of it down into a small machine attached to her hip. With her free hand Dr. Ziegler switched the machine on and a net of yellow light wove itself into existence in her palm reminding Satya of turmeric. 

Dr. Ziegler raised her hand and let it hover over the area the net of light meeting Satya’s shoulder. Warmth spread everywhere it touched  and Satya could feel herself relaxing. 

Itdid not last long enough. After only a few minutes Dr. Ziegler removed her hand and reached down to turn off the device. The skin around the prosthetic’s coupling was no longer red and swollen but smooth and seamless and the bruise had completely faded.

“There,” she said with a smile, “Good as new” 

“Thank you Dr. Ziegler.” 

“Glad I could help.” Dr. Ziegler re-fastened the closers on the gown and stood. “The shower is the door next to the toilet, there should already be the necessary toiletries as well as a towel. I’ve sent Genji and Jesse to pick up a change of cloths for you and I will bring them into the changing area of the shower when they get back. Please take your time.” She said all this as she walked Satya to the door and opened it.

“Thank you Dr. Ziegler,” she said as the door slide closed. Inside was a brightly lit changing room. The floor was made of some synthetic woven mat that looked as if it was designed to absorb and carry away any water without leaving the floor wet. 

There was a stool in one corner and a series of cubbies and two more doors with hinged centers and opaque frosted plastic panels were on the opposite walls with a towel hanging on the door of one. Satrya shrugged off the  gown and stepped out of the slippers.

She folded the gown neatly and placed it in one of the cubbies in another there was a small caddy containing bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and a new bar of soap. She picked it up by the handle and step to the shower stalls. She flicked on the light switch outside the door and stepped inside. 

She set the caddy in the hollowed out space on the left side and closed and locked the stall door before taking the detachable shower head and turning it so it was pointing it away from her,  as she turned on the water. When it had reached a comfortable temperature she turned it back enjoying the hot water.

She showered slowly partly out of enjoyment and partly because the lack of her prosthetic. She hadn’t realized how dependent she had become on the technology.

It was a semi-permanent prosthetic and while she could easily remove it there was often little need. It was waterproof, once the hard light components were removed, and resistant while they were still attached.

She really only removed it when it needed maintenance and that too was a rare occasion. But she managed and when she was done she reluctantly turned off the water unlocked the door and reached for the towel drying herself off. 

She replaced the caddy to its cubbie and noticed a new set of clothes were her old had been. She pulled the underwear and maneuvered into a plain black bra and tank top. Over it all came a overwatch jumpsuit.  She tried to get as much water out of her hair before hanging the towel back up and putting on her slippers. She did not have mirror to appraise herself and so she opened the door back to the main room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to get interesting I swear...maybe. I actually have a plan...kinda.


	3. Chapter 3

Dr. Ziegler sat at her desk but she was not alone. Genji was on his usual perch on the edge again and another man had pulled up a chair. Satya took a step forward when the unknown man turned his face towards her and Satya’s heart dropped. She knew his face and she remembered what Dr. Ziegler had called him… Jesse. Again she did not know him personally but not long ago his face had been plastered on every holo in the United States for murder, robbery, taking hostages on a hypertrain and then there was the part that hadn’t made the news, about what had been on the hypertrain. Satya didn’t know either but it had made it’s way to Vishkar’s attention and from what little Satya _did_ known her senior’s had seemed concerned.

“Are you alright?” Dr. Ziegler asked noticing her discomfort.

“My apologize,” Satya said choosing her next words carefully. “But I am afraid I do not understand why this man is here.” McCree snorted good natured and gave a warm smile.

“Same reason everyone else is here, darling.” He said with a pause “I got a call.”

 Satya decided not to accept his intentional obtuseness and continued on.

“You are not a former member of Overwatch and I can hardly believe someone with your criminal record would be sought out if Overwatch was reforming.”

“I am Overwatch,” He said, “Well technically but tomatoes tomatoes, and I don’t really feel like going into it.”

Satya’s eyes widened with understanding.

“You were Blackwatch” She knew of Blackwatch, the mercenary arm of Overwatch but Blackwatch had been such a tightly guarded secret it had been nothing but a ghost story in the eyes of most, until the Venice incident. And even then it was still shadowed.

“Smart cookie,” He said standing and sauntering the few steps toward Satya.

“Jesse McCree, nice to meet you,” He said offering a hand. Satya shook it hesitantly taking the chance to evaluated McCree further. He was not wearing any armor, which was to be expected if he was someplace like this, somewhere relaxed, somewhere safe. He was also not wearing the shawl’s he was frequently pictured with. He wore just a worn flannel, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and jeans that were more stained than blue. The hat too was present but he held it in his other hand as he had shifted it from his lap as he stood.

“Satya Vaswani,” She replied. “Where you in Rialto?” she asked before should could stop herself.

“Well then let's not keep Winston waiting.” Dr. Ziegler said clapping her hands together and changing the subject.

McCree nodded and started towards the door. Dr. Ziegler went first followed by Shimada and then Satya. McCree brought up the rear. The halls were empty. She followed as they led her through the facility.

Motion activated lights illuminating the hallways ahead of them as they approached. They took a lift to another level which opened on another hallway.  At the end a wide double door sat open and Satya could see the Overwatch logo large and assuming on the opposite wall.

Once in the room the doors closed.

“Ms. Vaswani I am glad you have recovered,” A deep voice said to her left. She turned setting her eyes on Winston.

Intelligence could not have prepared her for Winston.

She knew the statistics, but nothing could prepare for the actuality of meeting the genetically modified gorilla. Even from the opposite side of the room he seemed to tower over her. But she did her best not to dwell on it or she would risk appearing rude.

“Hello, ” She said falling back into her usual habit of  attempted indifference.

“Good Morning,” Winston replied raising a hand to adjust his glasses. “I apologize for asking to see you so soon after you’ve arrived here.”

“It is not trouble, I am fully healed and must be raising more than a few concerns for your organization, what would you like to know.”

“Well, you have introduced yourself to us as Satya Vaswani, but there is no record of anyone matching your description arriving in Spain. So first, would you please elaborate on your identity.”

Satya nodded.

“As I said my name is Satya Vaswani, I am twenty eight years old and I was born in Hyderabad India, I am a lesion and architect with Vishkar Corporation. I have been with Vishkar for twenty years and I have been in my current position for eight years. I am currently…. I was residing in Utopaea, India.”

“You have been employed since you were eight?” Shimada asked.

“I entered into the Vishkar Academy, when I was around eight years old, and at the time my family was compensated with a stipend to encourage them to let me attend so, yes, for all intensive purposes I have been employed by Vishkar since I was around eight years old.”

There was silence for a moment.

“What were you doing in Spain?”

“I was on a lesion mission for Vishkar. The Madrid government had expressed interest in incorporating hard light structure in some of the older areas of the city in order to increase the quality of life of the residents.”

“How does a lesion trip end up with you injured by your own company's technology and lead you to contacting us.”

Satya paused for a moment considering her options. Normally devolving what her alternate purpose in Spain was would be a serious offence and even considering her current situation the idea of that made her pause but after a moment she answered.

“I was gathering information.” She started, “ Recently Vishkar has been concerned about a new entity gaining control of various assets. However from what I had been told, Vishkar had almost no information on this entity except for a recurring symbol.

I was sent to try and retrieve some information linking various fronts to this entity. While I was gathering that information I was attacked, and I assume in an attempt to keep me from fighting back they tried to remove my prosthetic and in doing so they injured my shoulder.

They took my actualizer headset and rendered my unconscious.” She took a deep breath “I don’t know how long I was there because I was unconscious but a colleague, my junior, came and escorted me out of the cell and building they were holding me in.

She then attacked me.”

“Why?”

“Vishkar had decided that I was no longer a useful asset. While this was not the first time I failed to carry out my mission it was the most egregious failure. Also I believe they were trying to send a message to whoever attacked me and to the entity they are investigating.

I have been apart of Vishkar for twenty years. Vishkar has invested more time and money into my development than my real parents ever did. And for a time I was their most awarded architect. And yet they were willing to make an example of me.

They would not just abandon me but they would put me down with their own hands after taking the time to gather me.

River said all public records of my existence will have been erased which is the reason you found no record of me entering the country for all intensive purposes I am dead and I have been dead for 20 years.”

“I see,” was all Winson could say. Another silence fell, this one awkward. But the questioning had to continue.

“How were you able to contact us, that number has been unused for years.”

“ I found it when I was studying the information gathered about Overwatch. Vishkar had heard rumors that Overwatch may be reuniting and I decided to learn what I could about your organization. That number was apart of that information. I assume it was supposed to be clever.” She said raising an eyebrow.

“I was under the same impression when I saw it.” Winston replied. “Why contact Overwatch?”

“I felt it was my only option, my prosthetic is not available to the general public and so a normal facility would not have the resources to treat my injuries as the artificial nerves where the main cause of my pain.

Vishkar did but for obvious reason they would not have supported me. I did not want to die.” She added the last part without really processing her words. “ I knew Overwatch had experience with advanced prosthetics so I took a risk.”

“Where’d you like to go from here?” McCree asked. Satya had almost forgotten he was there. He’d taken a seat at the conference table and was leaning as far back in the chair as it would go.

“Overwatch can help you, we can make a new identity for you.”

“We still have favor’s we can call in and find you asylum somewhere.” Shimada added.

“I would not mind your help recreating my identity but I do not think I could simply fade into the masses.”

“What if she stayed here.” Dr. Ziegler suggested. “The status of the recall is still largely unconfirmed it could be helpful is she was here. I know Lena and Emily are considering moving to this watchpoint and visit frequently but there are still many people we haven’t heard from.”

“We can program one of the visitor badges for her. We have had much less trustworthy people walk through these halls.”

“If you’re interested,” She added quickly, “ you would be safe here.”

Satya considered for a moment “I would be grateful for the opportunity.”

“Perfect,” she said before looking at Winston and the final decision was his.

“Athena, can you assign and prepare a room for Ms. Vaswani and code the visitor band.” Winston called.

“Ms. Vaswani, has been assigned to room  1105. Her visitor band will be waiting there.” Athena said speaking for the first time.

“Would one of you show her where her room is and give her a tour of the base?” Winston asked of the two men.

“Well I'm the cook and kp tonight so I need to go get started on that. I'm sure Genji can manage without me.”

“Alright, Lena should be here in a few hours for you Dr. Ziegler.”

“I've already packed.”

“I hope you don't think it presumptuous of me but may I ask when or if I will be able to reattach my prosthetic. I can remove the hard light components if you’d like although they are useless without an actualizer.”

“Your prosthetic was damaged and we do not have the resources here at the moment to fix it. I am going to take it to a colleague of mine to get it repaired it and should return at the end of the week.”

Satya nodded, “Thank you. And as I said the hard light components are removable.” She added worrying the hem of her sleeve.

Dr. Ziegler nodded.

“We will do all we can to repair it, if you’ll excuse me I'll go finish getting ready. Genji you're in charge of the medbay for now.” She said winking at Shimada who gave a little two fingered salute. “Make sure you both eat lunch.”

“What about me Doc, aren’t you going to remind me to eat?”

“You forget to eat? That’ll be the day”

McCree did his best to look offended.

“All come see you off,” Winston said moving beside her.

“Have a safe trip Ang,” McCree added giving her a hug.

“Will do.”

Satya shifted feeling like she was interrupting this intimate moment between the old friends.

The group divided, initially she followed McCree and Shimada away from the conference room  navigating through the underground tunnels to a lift. McCree got off three floors later and they got off on the fourth floor.

She followed Shimada down another long  hall with door on the right every few meters. She glanced at the number plates as they passed the 1115, 1114, 1113… there were was a door to the left labeled kitchen and five meters past two more doors labeled as toilets and showers. They stopped at 1105.

“The door has been coded to your biometrics,” Shimada said gesturing her to the door. ”They were added to our system when you were brought in.”

Satya nodded unlocking the door with the pad to the side. The door slide open and the lights slowly came on. It was not a big room only about 2 meters wide and 3 meters long on the right there were large storage cabinets then a bed frame past that with two drawers under it and then a desk and chair beside that.

There was nothing on the left wall beside a holo and on the wall opposite to the door there was a large window with curtains.  She could see the two toned blue of the sky and sea beyond the bars of a small balcony.

“Your wristband is on the desk. Once you put it on you will not be able to remove it by yourself but it is waterproof and should not be too much of an inconvenience.

We don't not have any sort of cooking schedule yet since there are so few of us here at the moment but Jesse has volunteered to cook tonight and he should be done at about 1800, If you’d like to put on your wristband I can show you around the facility before that.

“I… I would appreciate that.”  She decided.

She took a moment and entered the room and saw the plain black band resting on the  desk she crossed the room quickly picking it up looking it over and realizing the flaw in its design.  She took the band to Shimada.

“I can not put this on myself.” She said offering it to him.

He took it and she holding out the inside of her wrist. She focused on her nails noticing the chip on the nail of her ring finger. Genji quickly fastened the bracelet. It let out a little chime and light momentarily as the seal engaged.  

“Thank you,” She turned her wrist looking at the bracelet the Overwatch logo was embossed on the topside in yellow and white.

“You’re welcome, I understand some of how you must be feeling.”

“It is frustrating to say the least.” She commented dropping her arm.

“Dr. Ziegler and Torbjorn will no doubt be able to repair your arm they have done some amazing things, although I may be biased .”

“I have no choice but to have full confidence in them.”

Genji laughed and Satya jumped. “I apologize for startling you. Let me show you around.” Satya nodded and they started down the hall.

“This is one of the fourteen or so buildings that make up the watchpoint, however most of them are built into the mountains and are connected through tunnels so they are not really separate buildings.

This is the main dormitory building. There are a few other smaller areas used for housing but they are for visiting groups. Well they were, the Watchpoint is mostly vacant now. The top floors were for higher level officials and are honestly separate apartments.

There are even a few apartments designed for families but I can’t remember any families ever on this base.

Every floor has a kitchen, common area, and laundry room and the ground floor has several different common areas and the largest kitchen and dining room. There is even a piano down there if you like.”

We also have quite a few different areas for training but, for now, your access to those areas are restricted.”  

They’d reached the ground floor and as the lift doors opened the smell of roasting meat and tomatoes meeting them. Genji showed her a small gym and the piano he’d mentioned. They stopped by the kitchen and McCree confirmed Genji’s assumption that dinner would be ready around 1800.

So they grabbed a quick lunch to tide them over until then.  Before they restarted their tour. There was also a lounge area with a large holo and even a small library but the room that surprised her the most was tucked at the far end of the building she spotted her reflection in the mirror lining the wall opposite the small gym there was a room double its size with pale yellow wood floors.

“We liked to use this room for sparing when we can’t use the training building for whatever reason. Apparently one of the old commanders here also had a yoga kick for a while. There are mats too in the closet if you're interested.”

They left the building giving Satya her first breath of fresh air outside since she came here. She blinked as her eyes adjusted. The sun was shining brightly.

There were landing pads and causeways jutting at haphazard angles out of the mountain contrasting with the soft brown of the mountain with their cool grey colors.

He lead her through the empty space their footsteps echoing.  He showed her a few green spaces tucked into the grey; wild untamed gardens and parks and there was even an orange track with outdoor exercise equipment in one. The whole base was a labyrinth that seemed to be without rhyme or reason.

“You are free to wander and your wristband will alert you if you come too close to any restricted areas. This base is a maze, there is a rumor they built it to make attacks difficult. I think they just didn’t plan well.”

“Do you run?” Genji asked noticing Satya staring at the track.

“Only when forced.” She said, “I was just thinking about how garish that color was.”

“I like it,” Genji said defending the track, “However it is a lot for a running track.” He admitted.

“Overwatch is fond of orange,” She said looking down at her outfit.

“Overwatch, much more, prefered blue.” Silence fell for a moment it was broken by the beep of Genji’s handheld. He pulled it out flicking across the screen opening some message.

“I apologize Ms. Vaswani, I need to go make a call.”

“I understand are you returning to the dormitory?”

“Yes,”

“Then we are heading in the same direction, I will follow you.”

“Please, lead the way as I said this base is confusing and Athena would be disappointed in me if I left you without knowing you can find your way back. Not that she wouldn’t help you.”

“Well then if you insist.” Satya said before turning away from the horizon and towards the cliffs and the buildings set within it. She found her way back to the dormitory easily as the route was entirely above ground.

Genji parted from her once she reached the entrance, quickly hurrying away towards the lift. Satya explored the floor wandering back to the mirrored room. She opened the door and entered in slowly. The light’s flickered on.

“Please,” she said to the empty room, “Leave them off.” the room darkened once again. She stopped in the middle of the room she stood still for a moment gathering herself before slowly stretching her right leg in front of her touching just the toe of her pointed foot on the ground. She sighed before falling from the form. She had no heart for it right now.

She turned and left the room the door sliding closed with a soft click behind her. She wandered the building refinding all the places Genji had showed her. She pulled open the door he’d said led to the kitchen forgetting that there would be someone there.

Once the door opened she was assaulted by the smell of something unfamiliar but delicious. She glanced into the industrial kitchen to see McCree standing next to the stove cooking something in a large pot.

He gave whatever it was a stir before turning around and checking the time on a rice cooker.

“Done with your tour?” He asked not immediately glancing at her

“Yes although I do not think it will do much to help my understanding of this facility”

“Yea, it's confusing, I remember the first time I was here I wandered onto the flight lines and about got blown over a cliff.”

“Really?”

“Yep, lucky to be alive, not my closest scrape with death but probably one of my stupidest.”  he gave another chuckle eyes twinkling fondly at the memory

“What are you making,” Satya asked changing the subject.

“Gumbo, he said wiping hands on a towel he’d thrown over his shoulder. “Last time I was over on the mainland I had something similar and since then I’ve had a craving for the real deal.”

He pulled another saucepan setting it on the burner to the right of the soup pot. He turned on the heat and spooned something off white into the pan he stepped away from the stove in favor of pulling a large bag out of the refrigerator.

“Is that butter?” She asked

“Bacon drippings actually, butter works but bacon is better.”

“I will take your word for it.”

He opened the bag and dumped some chopped vegetable into the now melted drippings stirring the two together.

Satya leaned against the door watching as he stirred the whatever the vegetable was and the larger soup pot intermittently.

“You can sit.” He said, “There are stools under the island.”

“What vegetable is that? Is there anything I can do to help?” Satya asked instead

“Its okra and not really, but if you really want to you can help me clean up afterwards.”

“I will be as useful as I can. How did you learn to make this?”

“Well my momma’s half French Cajun and I’ve still got connections down there, sadly didn’t learn this from her, found the recipe online and it’s about the closest thing I’ve got to what my grandmother used to make.”

Deciding the okra was cooked he spooned it into the larger pot, he turned the heat off. She watched as he added spices and dried herbs to the pot.

“You like crab?” he asked

“I do not think I’ve ever tried it”

“Well got to be a first time for everything.” He said taking a large bowl of what must be crab meat to the pot followed by shrimp. He stirred the pot a few time more before stepping away.

He crossed the kitchen he pulled two glasses out of a cabinet then went to the pantry and after a moment emerged with a dark wine bottle.  

“While that simmers I’m going to have a drink, would you like one?”

“I.. no thank you, I do not think it would be wise after just having left the infirmary.”

“That’s probably smart.” He said pouring himself a glass. “Would you like something to drink, you name it we probably have it.”

“Water will be fine.”

“We definitely have that.” He said standing taking the extra glass and stirring the pot. “Ice?” he asked crossing to the ice machine.

“No thank you,” She answered as he filled the glass from the tap and set it down in front of her.

“Thank you,” She said taking a sip.

“My pleasure.” He said running a hand through his hair and leaning back.

“I don’t understand though.” Satya said quietly

“What’s that?” McCree asked

“I don’t understand why you are all so trusting why you would let me roam freely here. Why you are being so kind.”

“Well,  first, trust doesn’t have to much to do with it, not try’en to sound rude but we aren’t exactly helpless here. And even if we weren’t here Athena could drop you in an instant. Beside’s like Doc said we’ve had less trustworthy people roam these halls, present company included. So this isn’t exactly our first rodeo.

As to you personally, sure you seem a little distant but given what you’ve been through that makes sense. You’ve been nothing but polite since you woke up and while Overwatch is not too fond of Viskar as a whole, we ain’t about to condemn you based on them.”

He took a sip of his wine. And took a moment to stir the gumbo again. “‘Specially when they treated you as they did.”

Silence hung in the air after that until door slid open again and they both turned to look as Genji wandered in.

“Yo,” He said with a little wave stopping when he saw Satya,

“Ms. Vaswani, I did not think I would find you here.” Genji said. He had changed, he’d removed his lightweight armor to reveal the sleek black of his prosthetic’s artificial skin. He was wearing sweatpants now and a long sleeve t-shirt. She could see the where it extended up to his jaw and around the back of his head.

He was smiling his face scared by whatever injuries he’d suffered to bring him to his present state but his dark eyes seemed unburdened. And his hair, she had not expected the bright green but it suited him somehow.

She knew she shouldn’t stare but she had not expected the faceless guard then guide to be so unassuming without the helmet and body armor.

“Is that your gumbo?” Genji asked McCree joining Satya and McCree.

“You know it is, got rice in the cooker too.”

“It smells amazing.”

“Got some of that wine too have a glass.”

“Less than a week in civilization and you are already becoming a wine mom.” Genji teased but went the cabinet where the glasses where to get one for himself.

“You do not seem like you would be interested in wine,” Satya said slowly, “Even if you are drinking it from a juice glass.”

“Nah, I hear that, shit, if I’d have known I’d be buy’en wine 15 years ago I wouldn’t have believed it myself.”

“How did you end up with this particular quirk?” Genji asked pouring himself a glass.” I don’t think you’ve ever told me.”

“While we had a mission is Spain, I snuck out one night because I needed a drink. Went the the first little restaurant I could. I asked what they had to drink and the guy just gave a little smile. He disappeared and brought back this local wine.

“ He said they’d been making it in the area for centuries. I don’t know how much of his story was just him try’en to sell me something or if it was fact. Maybe I was just thirsty but it was the best thing I’ve ever had.”

He paused to take a drink. “Since then whenever I’m in Spain I try and find whatever local wine I can and I have yet to be disappointed.

The timer dinged on the rice cooker.

“Hey Genj, would you fix up some bowls.”

“Sure thing,” Genji said hopping up. He went and got three bowls and crossed over to the rice cooker opening it. He spooned a heaping of rice into each flattening it to evenly cover the bottom of the bowl. He took the bowls over to McCree who ladled the gumbo over the rice.

“Miss. Vaswani would you grab some spoons they are in the drawer under the cups.

Satya went to find the service where he’d indicated. She took three large spoons out and slid the drawer closed.

While she had done that the other two had pulled out a tray to help carry it all into the adjacent dining room. She followed them in and joined them at the table.

“Bon Appetite!” He said before they eat. Satya waited and watched af the two started eating before taking a bite herself.

“So how do ya like it?” He asked

“It’s very good,” She said taking another bite, “Different, but good.”

“Glad you like it,” He took another bite, “ Ah shit.” He said standing quickly and jogging off to the kitchen. The two of them watched the swinging door he’d disappeared through. He emerged a moment later with a towel wrapped bundle.

Genji gave a little “ah” in understanding  but Satya remained confused until he unwrapped the towel and the foil beneath to reveal a loaf of golden bread already sliced.

“And I was worried you’d forgotten,” Genji teased McCree didn’t reply because he was too busy eating.

The rest of the meal passed in relative silence. The two friends passed a few quips at each other while they ate and Satya listened in amused silence. When they were done, McCree and Genji polishing off two serving before Satya had finished her first.

They gathered all the bowls glasses onto the tray and carried them back into the kitchen. While McCree moved the leftover gumbo and rice  into smaller containers Satya helped Genji do the dishes.

“Thank you Mr. McCree, Mr. Shimada,”

“Call me Jess or or Jesse or McCree anything but Mister” He said with a chuckle

“Me as well please call me Genji.”

“Then I hope you would return the favor and call me Satya.”

“Of course, It’s a beautiful name, does it mean anything?” Genji asked

“Truth,” Satya said simply brushing her hair over her shoulder.

“Very pretty, Genji and I were talk’en about watching a movie would you like to join  us.”

“I should probably rest.”

“The living room had some very comfy chairs and couches,”Genji added

“Thank you, I am tired though, maybe next time.”

“Alright good night then,” McCree said with a nod.

“Good night Satya”

“Good night,” Satya replied to them retreating to the lift that would take her to her room. Once the door slid closed she leaned against it for a moment while her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Moonlight filtered through the glass door.

She hadn’t realized how late it had gotten while they had eaten. The bed was unmade so she pulled open a closet and saw folded bedding. She took it out and set it on the desk.

“Athena,” She called to the empty room as she shook out a fitted sheet.

“Yes, Ms. Vaswani”

“Do you know,” She paused, “ Do you know what movie they are watching in the first floor living area?”

“ I believe they have settled on CB-7810: O Brother, Where Art Thou”

“ I am not familiar with that title do you know what it is about.”

“Of course, it is a pre- Crisis film from 2000 about a man’s journey home based on Homer’s Odyssey, the film is set in the Southern United States and explores many themes of Southern American Culture. Would you like me to play it?”

“Yes,” She said after a moment of thought, the holo flicked on illuminating the room in the artificial light.  She made the bed as the movie began, and was done in time to read the invocation presented in the beginning of the movie.

She sat down on the bed leaning against the back wall very quickly enraptured.She could not remember the last time she had watched a movie. She had spent all her free time with Vishkar reading old files about anything she could find.

The old Overwatch files, ironically had been one of the most fascinating.  She had also spent time studying architecture from throughout history and then walking around Utopaea trying to understand the city and to get ideas about how to implement its design elements on future projects.

Any other free time she’d spent training or dancing. As the movie neared the halfway mark she slid off the bed going to the closet again opening a different door to to reveal more clothing she pulled out a tank top and slid out of the overalls she’d been wearing putting the tank top and a pair of sweatpants on.

She folded the overalls as best she could and set them down returning to the movie. When the movie was over she took the toothbrush and paste and went to the bathroom down the hall and brushed her teeth.

She saw neither man on her way there or back and was glad she didn’t get caught in her lie. When she was done she turned off the holo and climbed into bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapters on AO3 translates to over 30 pages in Google Docs holy cow. Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will warn that there is going to be a lot more cooking in the future. I'm sorry. I thought referencing a movie about a man putting his life back together would be appropriate. Also I am a nerd and have many almost impossible to find easter eggs in this story, I think there are two in this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

She woke slowly eventually climbing out of bed and walking to the window sliding it open, the sounds of gulls and the quiet lap of waves far beneath her. Satya did not venture outside however and instead changed back into her overalls from the day before and then went back to the window sliding the screen open and stepping out onto the sun warmed platform. A slight breeze tickled her cheek and she leaned against the railing watching a small ship drift on the horizon over the blue water.

Her stomach did not wait long until it insisted it was time to eat. She glanced to the holo which was blank except for the time resting in the lower corner telling her it was only 6 am. She left her room making her way back to the kitchen. She opened the door peeking inside. It was silent except for the hum of the refrigerator.  She made her way to the large walk in pantry pulling the door open.

It was not full but considering she was only aware of three other people at the Watchpoint it was well stocked. She saw another few bottles of the wine McCree had shared the night before. There was another refrigeration unit in her she pulled it open to see it practically spilling with produce. The top compartment was filled with apples, citrus,figs and even a cantaloupe.

Below that there were two compartments filled with lettuces, cucumber, cabbage, fresh peppers and other greens. There were also at least 2 dozen eggs on the very top shelf. She closed the door. Beside the unit were baskets filled with produce that didn’t need to be refrigerated, there were peaches and a basket overflowing with tomatoes, further down the shelf where several kinds of onion, potatoes, garlic and ginger. There were dried peppers of many varieties. There was bread and containers of rice, cereals, flour, sugar and honey.

She picked up a loaf of bread that had already been opened and left the pantry. While she had been told she was welcome to anything she wanted to make sure she was not intruding or accidentally eating someone else's food. One slice of toast, however, should be safe until she could discuss it in more detail with the others.She let the pantry door fall closed.

“Your up early.” She heard McCree say, she jumped.

“Sorry didn’t mean to scare ya,”

“I could say the same thing for you,” Satya offered

“Well I’m blaming jet lag. Got here ‘bout the same time as you so it’s been less than a week, figure I got a few days left till it starts wearing off. You making breakfast.”

“I was going to have some toast.”

“Just toast?”

Satya nodded.

“I was gonna make something if you’d  like to help. Ang probably wouldn’t be too happy with me if she knew you were just eating toast.”

“Thank you, what can I do?

“Could you grab me a bell pepper, onion, two potatoes, and a thing of garlic out of the pantry.” He went to the refrigerator and grabbed a tray of eggs and some sausage from it while Satya took a bowl and got the things he’d requested. She and McCree set to making something, the potatoes were washed and shredded the extra starch leached out. The peppers and onions chopped and while McCree set to making some sort of mix with a majority of the ingredients  Satya cooked the eggs.

McCree got out a heavy cast iron skillet once it had heated she dropped a chunk of butter in the skillet coating the bottom of the pan. She cracked an egg on the side of the skillet letting it fall directly into the pan the added another making sure to leave space between them. She fished out a small piece of shell with a fork and waited for them to cook before lifting them out of the pan and setting them on a plate.

“How many should I do?” She asked as she placed more butter in the pan.

“All of ‘em,” he said  

“All nine?”

“All nine,”

“Alright,”

She repeated the process until the tray was empty. Half way through the door slide open again and Genji appeared reading something on his handheld.  

“Morning Genji,” McCree called

“Yo,”

“Have you eaten?”

“No not yet, anything I can do?”

“Put some bread in the toaster?”

“Ok,” he slipped his handheld into his pocket picking the bread Satya had set down earlier.

“How many would you like?”

“I’d like two, Satya?”

“Just one I think?”

“Roger,” Genji pulled out five slices putting four into the toaster. Satya went to the cupboard pulling out three plates. McCree pulled his creation of the heat and Satya  spooning the hashbrown onto a plate she added a couple eggs to the plate and took a piece of toast. Genji and McCree followed suit dividing the rest of the food between them. They took their plates to the dining area, grabbing service on the way.

“Damn,” McCree said as he took a moment to breath, “ I missed being able to have a hot meal.”

“That is what you get for robbing a train,” Genji teased.

“Don't make me shoot you.”

Genji chuckled deciding to taunt him further, “not to mention the incident in Hanamura”

“Genji, you started that?”

“And you finished it, and got seen.”

“Not all of us are ninjas, I couldn’t scale that wall.”

“You tried though, it was hilarious.”

“Don’t make me shoot you.” McCree repeated

“Considering, the difficulty of the cleanup, I would prefer you not shoot him.” Satya interjected.

Genji gave her a pained look.

“ I am hurt, do you think he could hit me?”

“ I think if you are unarmed you would be at a disadvantage.”

“Ah but I am never unarmed” He said with with a smile. And McCree sighed

“I don’t get it,” Satya said.

“ He’s got his throwing stars in his forearms,”

“I know, I saw you twirling them in the infirmary” Satya

“Yes, so the only way I could be unarmed is if I was literally unarmed.”

“That is always a possibility,” Satya said with an even tone.

“She’s got a point,” McCree added resting his elbows on the table his own prosthetic glinting.

“Being unarmed is quite un-nerving.” Satya added in an even tone.

“It is,” Genji confirmed. They lapsed into silence again Satya’s last attempt at humor falling flat.

McCree had made almost a stir fry but instead of noodles or rice as the base he’d used hashbrown, and then added the peppers, cheese, onions, and sausage.

“What movie did you two watch last night?” Satya said after a few moments of silence.

“O Brother Where Art Thou” Genji said, “It was really good I wish you’d joined us.”

“I’ve see it.” Satya said not admitting when, “ And I greatly enjoyed it although I think there was a deeper level to many of the Southern American Cultural themes that I did not comprehend. I was an interesting and beautifully filmed movie.”

“It is one I would like to watch again.” Genji added

“I’ll make sure Athena short lists it.” McCree spoke up.

“Did you enjoy it, McCree?”

“Yea, I'd seen it years ago  but I’d hardly remembered it.”

“What did you enjoy about it?”

“I liked the lies, and how effort less they were. How effortlessly they were spoken and how quickly they were believed.”

“It did seem a little ridiculous at times. I can not believe they truly thought Pete had been turned into a frog.”

“It was very strange,” Genji added

“Y’all don't understand how interested in myth the Southerner is, especially those in the deep south,”

“Do you do movie nights often?” Satya asked

“Depends, before we’d do them once a week or so, if there were people around and we had any energy left. We’ll see how it goes as more folks start trickling in,”

“Are many more people expected?”

“Not sure, there are a few we’ve gotten in touch with but since Overwatch got shut down a majority seem to have moved on or settled down. There is a good chance only the ones without any where else to go will be back. Genji did say he’d convinced someone to join up.”

“Really? Who? A former member?”

“No, my mentor and friend, he is a Shimbali monk. I am actually going to go with Lena to gather him this week. I will be nice to visit again. I haven't been since this winter.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“Just a few days, you won't even have time to miss me.”

“This base already feels exceptionally large, so without you here it will surely feel even more empty.”

“ She's got a point.”

“Angela, and Emily will arrive when I leave so you will survive. We should clean up.”

“Shit, what time is it? Winston asked me to meet him at the Sky at 1000.”

“It is 0920 now”

“The Sky?” Satya asked as they gathered up the plates and headed to the kitchen.

“Yea, over in the south wing, did Genji not show you?”

“I forgot.”

“Well then wanna head over with me? It’s pretty interesting.”

“If it is alright.”

“Not a problem, let’s finish up here then, don’t wanna make Winston wait.”

They cleaned up and Satya followed McCree. They went down the lift into the underground tunnels connecting the different wings of the base and made their way to the southern wing. And then hopped into another elevator.

McCree hit the button to the top floor. The door opened and she was greeted by the blue expanse of sky between the supports of the greenhouse ceiling even if it was mostly obscured with the mass of white and green beneath.

“Since the watchpoint is kinda isolated they made this greenhouse system as a way to supplement the amount of produce they had to buy.”

“But when everything got defunct and Winston became the only one here it got really important. He doesn’t get out too much after all. And this facility makes enough for him and he even ships out some of the extra to the communities on the mainland. They’ve had a hard time since the attacks. And it's part of the reason they built the base here, to provide infrastructure to the mainland.

“What happened here exactly.”

“Well there was a pre omnic crisis attack on the area it destroyed a lot of the land around The Rock which was what the base was built on and  created a trench that separated The Rock from the mainland. Parts of the base were actually built in the craters left behind.”

“This place is kinda like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory now to the locals, no clue who’s here and who’s running the place but the produce still magically appears.

‘Willy Wonka?”

“Yea it’s a kid’s book, you should read it sometime.”

“Maybe,”

“Anyway he’s got it on a cycle so there’s always fresh stuff to pick. He eats like 30 kilos some days and this facility makes more than enough.”

As they traveled down the hall and Satya’s eyes danced over the walls of green surrounding them leafy greens on the bottom and levels of vining plants above with nets resting below to catch any fruit that fell prematurely. There were drums labeled as holding potatoes and systems that looked slightly different from the ones holding the leafy greens . There was also a veritable wall of tomatoes training up laticis. Winston was near the trees and the herb garden. In one corner a variety of squat fruit trees creating a small shadowed forest under the greenhouse roof. Directly across from it was a small pond surrounded by artistic raised beds filled with herbs. As they approached they watched as Winston reached up and plucked an apple from the tree, eating half of in in one bite.

“Morning,” McCree said with a little wave.

“Good morning, Miss Vaswani, nice so see you again are you settling in well.”

“Please, call me Satya,” She offered, “I have been enjoying myself although I am quickly becoming…” She searched for the word, “ frustrated with my sedimentary lifestyle.”   

“If you’d like we can get you a hand held holo so you can access the media archives here. And the Sky always has little jobs that need doing.”

“Thank you, I know it will be easier when my prosthetic is reattached.”

“I hear ya,” he turned to Winston, “What’d’ya need help with?”

“Just thought you’d like to help me gather the extra up for shipment.”

“Sounds good, where should I start”

Wiston detailed the process they went about gathering the ripe produces packing it into containers that once full where attached to drones that left through open doors in the greenhouse walls. Eventually all the drones had left their orange containers just pin pricks in the blue sky.  Satya’s stomach growled hungrily,”

“I think it’s about time we find something to eat. You wanna join us Winston?”

“Athena has something for me to look over, so I’m going to head back to the lab. Thank you both for your help,”  They headed back down the elevator and back to the living quarters. Inspired by the Sky they gathered an assortment of produce from the pantry and  Jesse sent Satya to find Genji while he prepared lunch.

She found Genji playing some video game in the rec room, she hovered in the doorway waiting until he reached a stopping point watching as he cursed angrily at the screen.

He was dressed casually again, in Overwatch sweatpants and a black t-shirt. She could see now only his right arm was a prosthetic but like his face his left arm was scared. Not really interested in the game she watched the back of his head noticing how his hair was bent in awkward cowlicks above the cybernetic plate  that wrapped around the back of his head. Eventually the game ended and he sighed stretching out the muscles he’d tensed playing the game.

“Did you win?” She asked and she smiled a little when she saw him jump ever so slightly.

“Satya, I didn’t know you were there.”

“That was my goal. We were wondering if you’d like something to eat?”

“Yes please,” He said something into the game mic and shut off the machine standing up.

“You did not have to stand in the doorway. You could have sat down”

“I did not want to risk distracting you” she said pulling her hair over her shoulder and running her fingers through it.”

“It wouldn't have mattered I knew I wasn't going to win.”

“You seemed very...passionate.”

“I was playing against a friend, whom I have yet to beat. And even though I knew I was not going to win it is easy to get caught up in the moment.”

“Do you normally win, when playing against others?”

“Yes, I have always been good at competitive games. Do you play?

“No, I never had the time.”

“You should try, they are good for hand eye coordination.”

“I have excellent hand eye coordination”

“Prove it,” He said grinning as he offered her the controller.

She raised an eyebrow, “No matter how good my hand eye coordination is I would still need to learn the mechanics of the game, McCree is waiting on us, and most importantly I am still without my prosthetic.”

He muttered a little “oh”realizing his mistake  and shut off the system, “I will get you to try it some other time then.”

“Possibly,” she said and he hopped to his feet.

“Did McCree say what he was making?”

“No,”

“Maybe I should volunteer to make dinner, so far McCree has done all the work.”

“Can you cook?”Satya asked.

“I learned to cook when I was in school. You?”

“Some, although it was never a recreational activity that appealed to me.”

“It is hardly recreational."

“Well it use to be recreational for me, now it seems I had better learn.”

“I will teach you everything I know.” Genji promised

“Hmm, or maybe McCree can show me the internet sites he uses.” She said the corner of her mouth twitching up.

“You are very cruel.”

“Incredibly,” She said her smile growing.  

Lunch was simple. Jesse had pulled out sandwich supplies and sliced fruits and vegetables. Satya skipped the sandwiches and made herself a salad finding some of the dressing from the day before in the fridge.

After lunch Satya took some of the leftover fruit and decided to rest in her room pulling a towel out of the wardrobe and set it out on the balcony. She leaned against the window watching the water while eating. It was peaceful.

She could just hear the water hitting the cliffs below.  As she sat watched she saw some of the drones returning from their mission san orange bins. Her mind wandered back to her situation. She rolled her shoulder and tried to feel the connections but without the prosthetic there was not feeling, no arm to move, even though she felt like there should be. Slowly the sky turned from blue to orange and birds returned to the cliffs to roost. She stood and stretched pulling the towel inside  as someone knocked on the door.

“Come in,” she called the door slide open McCree standing behind it.

“We were wondering where you’d disappeared to,”

“I apologize I needed some time to myself.”

“Well, here this should help.” He said offering her a holo tablet.

“For the  time being it's...a...monitored, it links to the public database for the watchpoint, books, movies, music.”

“Thank you, are there any cookbooks in the database.”

“Yea about 90, I think, why?”

“I was discussing it with Genji, I will probably have to learn to cook for myself now. He offered to teach me. Does he truly know how to cook?”

“Well he’s try’en if that counts, he volunteered to cook tonight, honestly I’m a little worried. He never had to cook before the fall, we, uh, had staff then and I don’t think I’d’ve eaten anything he cooked back then anyway,”

“Oh?”

“Yea he was a different person back then, he’d been through a lot when he ended up here.”

“What happened?”

“That’s his story to tell not mine.”

“I understand, what is he making,”

“He wouldn’t tell me.”

“I am truly concerned,”

“That’s probably for the best, he said he’d be done around 1900”

“What time is it now?” She said flicking on the holo tablet and seeing 1845 flash across the screen

“We should probably head down there.”

She set the holo down and left the room with McCree. When they entered the kitchen they first noticed the smell cooking rice and soy sauce and meat. The scene however was akin to that of a tornado plowing through the kitchen. There were several cutting boards scattered over the countertops and an empty container that had once contained meat on an island. The skins of several onions were scattered on one of the cutting boards and a carton of eggs stood open and empty with discarded shells piled in and around it. Not to mention the bottles of soy sauce, cooking alcohol, and mirin, the container of sugar and the box of fish stock scattered around the room.

“Genji,” McCree said with the voice one used when confronting a child who’d found their mother’s red lipstick, “what’cha make’en.”

“Oyakodon,” replied in a tone that only continued the metaphor.

“English?” he prompted

“Parent and child, literally but really it's just egg and chicken, I haven't made it in years but I remember it was the first thing I made in home ec. in junior high.”

“Smells good,” McCree admitted scanning the room.

“Thank you.”

McCree glanced at Satya and gave a look of defeat before deciding to do what he could to help the situation. Satya and McCree gathered the dishes placing them in the dishwasher and throwing the tray away and putting the onion scraps in the compost bucket. Satya returned the bottles to their places while McCree wiped off the counters.

“Thank you, Genji said, “I admit I haven’t cooked in a while I apologize for the mess.”

“Should we get out some bowls or plates?” She asked.

“Bowls please and either chopsticks or spoons. Chopsticks for me, Jess?”

“Whatever I say here’ll be wrong,” he called from the pantry.

“Chopsticks for Jess,” Genji decided.

“Chopsticks for Jess,” Satya repeated gathering them from the cabinet along with a spoon for herself.

Once the kitchen was clean dinner was quite nice. Satya and McCree poked fun at Genji’s cooking skills. The chicken was rather coarsely cut.

“To make it more natural” Genji defended.

And the onion were a little overcooked which Genji admitted was a mistake. Satya indulged in the wine McCree offered this time and after just one glass she could feel the heat in her cheeks. She did her best to keep her composer as the other two drank more and more, polishing off the bottle.  They took a moment to go back to the kitchen and finish cleaning for the night before McCree pulled out another bottle of some kind of whisky. Satya declined the offer of more alcohol but sat with the other two as they partook.

“So what was this incident in Hanamura, she asked after the’d both become a bit more giggly.  Genji gave a loud laugh and McCree sighed slumping in his chair and placing his hat on his head hiding his face.

“We were visiting Hanamura, I had some business there and I convinced McCree it would be a good idea for him to come. I thought I’d might need back up and it meant he would be out of the US for a while because there was a warrant out for his arrest.”

“How did he get there if there was a warrant out?”  

“Winston asked Lena to give me a ride,” McCree muttered past the hat.

“How did you get into the country, though, you have not passport.”

“Darlin you’re overthink’en it and yes I have a passport, well,  Richard Paladin has a passport.”

“Anyway, he showed up in Japan, met me and we started our mission.”

“Well we continued it, Genji was already neck deep in it not that he told me that.”

“We went to this ramen place the clan use  to use for money laundering.”

“Best damn ramen in Hanamura,” McCree added.

“Why were you there?”

“We were looking for someone, so we were staking out the local haunts.”

“And I was hungry,” from Mccree.

“And Jess was hungry, anyway, even though the clan is mostly gone they still have a presence in old Hanamura and somehow we were recognized. We had a bit of a head start but we got caught in this back alley.”

“Now hold up,” McCree said sitting up, “If you’re not gonna tell it right then I’m’a have to.

“SO we are eat’en our lunch when Genji suddenly says ‘oh they found us,’ nothing else. He stands and heads towards the back door. I’ve got noodles hang’en out of my mouth but I get up and follow him and someone starts shoot’en I get out the back knock’en a huge stack of bowls over as I go only to get to the back alley and Genji is nowhere to be found. And then I hear this ‘psssssst Jess’ and I look up and Genji’s peer’en at me from the roof. He gestures at me to get up there and I’m looking at this wall before I say ‘fuck it’ and try and climb the wall, I got about halfway up then someone shot me in the ass.”

“It was hilarious” Genji cut it.

“It hurt!”

“You’ve been shot before.”

“Not in the ass I’m lucky it didn’t hit anything important.”

“What’s more important than your ass?”

“What happened after that?” Satya prompted.

“Well Genji jumped down we took care of  them, boosted me over the wall, and we got the hell out of Dodge.”

“He complained about his ass the moment Lena picked us up until the moment Angela got ahold of him.”

“I still got a limp.”

“No you don’t, you’ve been working on that swagger of yours since before we met,”

McCree threw his head back laughing loudly this time his cheeks now thoroughly flushed red.

“Genji, bless your heart, never stop reading old books.” He said wiping a tear from his eye

“What did I say?” He asked with a confused look, Satya shrugged and McCree was too far gone to provide an answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Overwatch leaves a lot of unanswered question about stuff that we have to fill in the blanks to. For example where does Winston get food? He can't just eat bananas and peanut butter.  
> The Sky is a reference to another similar system that, not gonna lie, I've dreamed about and it's super cool.


	5. Chapter 5

Two more days past and on the morning of the third day after breakfast Genji announced he needed to go pack. Satya had almost forgotten he was due to leave but it also meant Dr. Ziegler would be returning, hopefully, with her prosthetic. 

“What time will they be arriving?” Satya asked

“An hour or so from now, I can’t wait to get rid of him too.” McCree said.

“It is not that,” Satya said quietly unintentionally letting her hand wander up to her shoulder. 

“Ang, will get you fixed up then we can start those cooking lessons.”

“You may regret making that offer.”

“You can’t be a worse cook than Lena, that girl almost killed us with some undercooked chicken.”

“How?” 

“She didn’t time it or check the temperature before she tried to serve it. But we noticed when we cut it open and were able to nuke it before serving it to anyone.” 

“I will try and live up to your expectations,” Satya replied not entirely sure how to respond.

“Would you like to go down to the flight lines and greet them with me? They are going to hang around for lunch before they leave, I’ve already got the gumbo from the other night ready to heating. 

“Would that be alright?” She asked knowing there were areas of the base that were supposed to be restricted to her.

“As long as I’m with you it’ll be fine.”   He said as they started off they stopped by the kitchen so McCree could reduce the heat on the gumbo making sure the it wasn’t too high and stirring it some to make sure it was evenly heating. He turned the heat down to just a low simmer when it was time to go. Athena could cut it off if it started to burn.

They left the dormitory though the surface entrance crossing to the area behind the track and into a building set into the wall, from there they took took a door labeled G-4 which lead them into and through the mountain and out into the official areas of the base.

The buildings here seemed more temporary and mobile units and shipping containers dotted the open spaces  she could see a wide window set high into the cliff and decided it must be some kind of control tower. McCree lead them into the main hangar the bay door opening above them. McCree pulled a couple pairs of headphones from a hook by the door they’d entered and offered her one. 

“It echo’s in here bad when they are landing or taking off.”

McCree pulled his hat off to put on headphones holding his hat in his hand since it wouldn’t fit over the bulky headphones. 

Satya maneuvered into the headphones adjusting the ear muffs so they fit comfortably just as the massive hanger door in the roof opened.

 The door finished opening complete silence fell for a moment, the air still. Then a shadow crossed over it and the ship started its vertical descent into the hanger lining itself carefully above the raised platform above them. The wind from the landing turbines forced her to step back and McCree instinctively  oved to place a hand on his head to keep his hat from blowing off before realizing it was in his hand.

Even through the headphones she could hear the wind whistling through the engines.  The craft set down with a thunk that she felt in her bones before the engine cut off. McCree pulled off his headphones and Satya copied him before taking a set of stair that lead up to the platform. The doors slide open and Satya heard

“Thank you for flying Air Tracer…” filtering over the comms from the main cabin.

Dr. Ziegler was the first to disembark, “Ms. Vaswani, how are you feeling?”

“I am well Dr. Ziegler.”

“I’m glad to hear it, we were able to repair your arm, it wasn't as badly damaged as we’d initially thought.” 

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Good after lunch please come by the medbay.” 

“Is this her?” The voice that Satya had heard over the comms cut in. 

“Hiya, you probably don’t remember me but I was there the night we picked you up. I’m so glad to see your doing better, you gave all us a scare, Lean Oxton, nice to meet you.” 

“Satya Vaswani, please call me Satya, I’ve heard a lot about you Miss Oxton.” Lena Oxton was a well know figure for almost everyone.

“Call my Lena, love, or Tracer. What have you heard, all good I hope?” 

“There was something about undercooked chicken. “

“Jess!”Lena said looking at McCree with a hurt expression.

“To be fair that was a very long time ago.” McCree added to Satya.

“She did it last week,” a third voice joined them from the plane. A thin woman with auburn hair pulling into a ponytail. 

“Satya this is Emily,” Lena said trying to ignore Emily’s comment. And they decided to let it drop. 

“I’ve got some lunch heat’en up for us if y’all wanna head on down the the kitchen.”

“Watch’a make’en,” Lena asked. 

“Gumbo." 

Lena squeaked with excitement grabbing onto Emily’s arm and McCree chuckled. 

They took a different route back to the dormitory heading down into the tunnels beneath the watchpoint. 

They ate lunch. Satya quietly listening to the conversations of the old friends. Genji had re-appeared with a duffle bag and dressed in his armor underneath more discreet street cloths. The faceplate of his helmet removed so he could eat. Tracer had gotten hung up on the reports of her cooking. 

“Honestly Jess, out of everything you could have told her, you had to tell her about that?”

“We were talking about cooking it fit, but if you’d like.” He turned to Satya, “Would you like to hear about the time Lena got herself stuck in the air ducts above Winston’s office?”

“Jess!”

“So a few years back she got it in her head that she wanted to surprise Winston with a gift. But she wasn’t sure what to get him so she decided to sneak into his office…”

“JESS!” She pleaded her face red.

“Some other time then,” he said to Satya as Lena glared at him. 

After lunch was all cleaned up they all made their way back to the hanger. Genji and Lena said their goodbyes to the group and Satya waited near the stairwell. She thought she heard her name and as the group parted she saw Genji and Lena waving furiously at her. So she waved back before they boarded the Orca and the door closed.

They all reatreated and watched as the ship took off.  The vertical thrusters lifting it up and out of the hanger before accelerated away. The hanger doors slowly closed and only McCree, Satya and Emily remained. 

“Are you heading down to the medbay now?” Emily asked.

Satya nodded.

“Do you mind if I come along, I was talking to Angela on the flight over and I am interested in your prosthetic.”

“I have no complaints, may I ask what you do? Winston mentioned you may move here and I’m curious.”   

“I am a physiatrist, I used to be part of Overwatch’s medical group.”

“Is that  how you met Lena?” 

“Yes, she wasn’t one of my patients but I would see her occasionally, but it wasn't until after Overwatch was dissolved that we really got to know each other.”

“What have you been doing since then?”

“Private practice, although we are thinking about living here more full time is the recall gains any footing.”

They reached the medbay, opening the door and finding Dr. Ziegler at her desk.

“We missed you at lunch Angela,” Emily said getting her attention. 

“I’ll get something later, I wanted to check my emails as soon as possible.”

“It seems you need to start taking your own advice, Dr. Ziegler.” Satya added.

“I promise I won’t forget,” She said smiling before patting an examination chair. “Please come sit.”

Satya did and Dr. Ziegler opened the hard case that held her prosthetic...s.

“We were able to replicate and replace the damaged components but my colleague wondered if it would be too obvious as Viskar technology so we took advantage of the opportunity to make a second prosthetic that was more unique.”

Satya stared at the new prosthetic. It was different, the shape was about the same if a little more streamlined and instead of the hard plastic shell this one was covered in a light weight brass colored metal that reflected subtly in the light. 

“I, it’s beautiful, I can’t accept it.”

“If you like it it's yours, its been a while since we’ve had the chance to try anything new.”

“Thank you.”

Dr. Ziegler smiled and lifted the prosthetic out of the box.

“We’ve designed this arm with a quick release that will let you remove the prosthetic much more quickly and if your arm if manipulated in a way to result in injury the artificial nerves will shut off to keep your from feeling the amplified pain. 

I’m sure you’ve noticed too that this arm lacks the hard light components of your original arm. Our knowledge of the technology did not allow us to replicate them but from what we can see the components on your original prosthetic are undamaged. There are other differences as well but I’ll just let you discover those for yourself.”

She set the prosthetic back down.

“Can you undo your jumpsuit and take off your shirt, I would like to check and clean the connections since your prosthetic has been disconnected for an extended period..”

Satya did. Dr. Zielger looked over the connections before dusting them with some pressurized air.  She then picked up the prosthetic and moved it into place. Magnets immediately held it in position and a moment later the artificial nerves rejoined and the locking mechanisms fixed it in place. 

Satya waited for the pressure of the nerves reconnecting to fade before trying to move her arm. When it had she carefully lifted it.

It felt heavier, and more natural, then she remembered her original prosthetic feeling. But maybe that was her imagination. 

She could feel the air moving around her hand when she moved it.

“It’s more sensitive than your old prosthetic as well,” Dr. Ziegler mentioned noticing her movements.  “It’s fully waterproof and there is a small holo built into the inner forearm which, among other things, you can use to adjust the touch sensitivity if you ever need to.”

“Thank you,” 

“It’s no problem, I’d like to run a few tests to make sure its working as it should and then you will be good to go.”

As Dr. Ziegler started her tests it was Emily’s turn to ask questions.

“Does it require any charge?” 

“It can be charged externally but it’s a very efficient design. It uses the same bio electrical and kinetic generators that Genji’s prosthetics use. So the bodies natural electric current and movement will charge the prosthetic.”

“It doesn't seem like that would create enough change,” 

“Normal batteries won’t but these are ones Winson designed himself for Lena’s chronal accelerator, he didn’t want her to ever have to worry about the battery dying on her.”

“I thought it used a regenerative charge system?”

“It does but there are several different primary and secondary systems to ensure it never completely loses charge.”

“If this is Winston’s technology how did her old prosthetic charge.”

“Hard light, it was designed to create small amounts of it to run the battery. The system was a bi-product of trying to create a device that did not require an architect to manipulate hard light.” Satya answered.

“We guessed it had something to do with hard light as it was unlike any system we’d seen before. There you go all done.” Dr. Ziegler said finishing up her diagnostics. 

“Now if you have any issues with it let me know right away.”

“I will thank you, is there anything else you need from me?”

“No you are free to go please, enjoy the day.”

“Thank you,”

“I’ll see you later Satya,” Emily said, “ Is Jess cooking tonight?”

“I assume so,”

“Then I’ll see you at dinner.”

Satya nodded and left the room. As she started down the hall she fiddled with the holo on her new prosthetic. When it was off it blended almost seamlessly into the brass metal of her arm with only the time displayed across her wrist. She set a lock on it to keep it from becoming active when it wasn't needed and decided to go see if she could help Jesse with dinner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing out of order so I got behind in posting updates. I may post the next chapter soon. Let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I am behind in updating I thought I post another update sooner.

McCree invited Satya to the shooting range the next day while they’d made dinner and Satya had been so surprised at the invitation she accepted.

“What’d’you normally use?” He asked as they entered the range his own weapon on his hip.

“I've trained mostly with photon projectors but I assume that isn't an option here. So I am happy for your recommendation.”

“Well how about this,” He said handing her a small pistol. “This is like Ang’s, it’s probably kind of similar to what your used to. And it doesn't have much of a kick.”

He offered the pistol to her and she took it turning it over in her hands and looking at it.

“It’s smaller that my photon projector,”

“Don’t let it fool you, it does plenty of damage. As long as your aim’s any good.”

“You’ll get nothing from trying to, how would you put it, ‘rial me up.’” She said with a smirk

“I am not expecting my aim to be better than the infamous Hypertrain robber; Jesse McCree.

“I’m choose’en to ignore your  attempt to ‘rial me up.’” He said handing her headphones to protect her ears.

“Last one to 100 headshots does the dishes?” He offered testing the headset’s mic.

“That hardly seems fair.”

“You’ve got twenty shots before you have to reload and I only got six.”

“Alright first one to one hundred wins but bragging rights only.”

“Fine, I’d’ve helped with the dishes anyway.”

“Then why make the bet in the first place.”

“You are proving to be a real stick in the mud,” He joked.

“I just try to be deliberate in my speech, also I’ve found I  dislike doing the dishes,”

“Fair enough.” Athena had finished setting up the range and they began their challenge. All six of McCree shots hit the targets in their heads, twelve of Satya’s did. In the end, though, McCree won. But it was closer than Satya had thought it would be. She was at eighty seven when McCree hit one hundred.

“You’re not a bad shot,” He said while she finished up the last thirteen.

“I am surprised I kept up as well as I did," she said looking over the statistics of the session.

“Little more practice and you maybe outshooting me.”

“Perhaps,” she said with a small smile. “I do enjoy this weapon though, it has a nice balance.”

“Yea, it’s pretty nice.”

“I like to avoid unnecessary loss of life but if it can not be avoided I would be comfortable with a weapon like this.”

The pistol was placed back in the armory room by the shooting range.

“I'll keep that in mind. I think I am going to head to the gym for a little bit, you are welcome to join if you’d like?”

“Thank you but I think I’ll go back to the dormitory. Emily and Dr. Ziegler mentioned something about finding me something to wear other than old Overwatch jumpsuits.” Her gaze drifted to the stone cliffs behind McCree as she spoke her eyes catching something dark momentary on the light stone.

“What?” McCree asked turning and looking where Satya was staring.

“Nothing, “ She said, “ I just thought I saw something.”

“Probably nothing to worry about,” He said adjusting he hat. “Athena’s got enough sensors and cameras on this base to make Big Brother jealous so she’ll let us know it there anything to worry about. I’ll see you later then good luck with Em and Ang.”

“Thank you.”  She said and they went their separate ways.

She went back to her room unlocked and opened to door to the balcony hoping to get the chance to sit outside before Emily came by. But not five minutes later there was a knock on her door.

She sighed and stood. She had no problem with Emily but for most of her life she’d worn an assigned uniform and anytime she didn’t her outfit had been provided for her so the idea of civilian clothes was daunting. Satya opened the door and Emily all but spilled into the room carrying several large bags of clothes.

“Ok so, you don't have to take it all but we wanted you to have options and we didn’t really know what you liked.” She said quickly when she saw Satya raise an eyebrow.

“I am not sure myself, I’ve never had to choose.” She replied.

“Really,” Emily asked but Satya didn’t get a chance to answer as Athena cut her off.

“All agents please report to conference room one, this is an emergency.”

Emily dropped the bags, “come on,” she said to Satya.

“Is it alright?”

“There are only five people on this base right now, and if its an emergency we may need your help.”

Satya nodded and followed her through the base and down into the tunnels. She recognized the room from her debriefing almost three weeks earlier.

Winston, McCree, and Dr. Ziegler where already there looking at the large holo on the far wall.

“Sorry we’re late,” Emily said when they entered.

“No problem, Athena picked up on an distress signal from an old base in the Antarctic. Its weak but Athena has confirmed it was legitimate. There was a meteorological base there  but it’s been dark for almost 10 years.

"When I got the notification I looked into it and there is no record the base was ever evacuated. They were using cryostasis technology there so that must be how they survived these 9 years and now there is a chance that whoever was on that base woke up.

"I don’t know what kind of supplies they have or how long they will last. And I’m also worried Talon could try and take advantage of the situation and attack the base. They may know about the distress signal if they are monitoring our old frequencies.

"Especially with Reaper being hell-bent on hunting us down. We need to get down there and evacuate the survivors.”

“I’m guess’n you need me to fly?” McCree asked.

“Yes, Emily, would you act as medic? I’d like Angela to stay here to prep the medbay. I don’t know how many people we are expecting.”

“I can do that.”

“Ms. Vaswani, McCree has requested your help as well, he said you’re a good shot and I don’t know if we are going to run into any resistance. We could use an extra set of eyes out there.”

“I understand and will do what I can to help.”

“Are you coming Winston?” McCree asked.

“I’ll monitor things from here, I’ve alerted Tracer to what's going on and I want to be able to direct them more accurately from here.”

“Got it,” McCree said standing, “ I assume we are leaving soon.”

“I’ve already got the ship fueling and its been stocked with winter gear and supplies.”

“Weapons?”

“Stop by the armory and get what you need then head to the hanger.”

“Got it. If Genji and the other’s need to come save our butts how long will it take them to get there?”

“They’ll be about 3 hours behind.”

“Not the worst odds. Y’all ready then?” He asked Emily and Satya who both nodded.

“Then let’s go.”

They made their way to the armory McCree strapped his revolver to his hip and slung a rifle over his shoulder. He pressed the blaster Satya had used before into her hands along with a holster.

She stared at it for a moment realizing how much they where trusting her. She felt her heart jump she wasn't sure if it was out of joy or fear. She fastened the belt around her waist. Emily got a similar weapon. They headed up to the hanger. Athena had already begun the take off procedures as they boarded the ship. McCree and Emily headed to the bridge. Satya moved to sit in one of the seats in the main cabin.

“There’s plenty of seats up front. You can take the navigator’s chair.” He said gesturing to the seat to the left of the pilot.

“Damn is be a long time since I sat in one of these.” He said as Satya fastened her harness in place.

“This is a MV-17, You sure this ship’ll work?” He asked closing and locking the doors.

“This ship has passed all recent inspections,” Athena replied.

“Good, I think I learned to fly in a 108, y’all ready?”

“Ready,”

“Ready,”

“Alright, OCC-1701 ready for takeoff.” He said.

“OCC-1701 you are cleared for takeoff. Good luck.”

“Thanks Winston, lets go.”  He said. Satya waited for the ship to rise but nothing happened.

“Why aren’t we moving?” He asked.

“Parking brake?” Emily suggested.

“I don’t think the ship has a parking brake. Athena!”

“Please remember to lock the thrusters before attempting vertical lift.”

McCree didn’t say anything, flipped a switch, and tried again. This time the ship rose and Satya watched as the grey of the hanger was replaced by blue and white sky.  Once they were at altitude he set the flight path and turned his chair to face them, Emily and Satya copying him.

“And now we wait, y’all feel free to get up and walk around, I’ma stay here and make sure this fossil doesn’t decide to fall out of the sky.”

Emily and Satya moved to the main cabin sitting the more comfortable booth.

“This is going to be a long flight, since we didn’t have time to grab anything to take our minds off the time,” Emily said sighing.

“It does seem like this plan was rushed.”

“Yea, but Winston is a little jumpy about everything lately since the break-in.”

“Break-in?”

“Talon attacked the watchpoint a few weeks ago and tried to steal the old personnel data. He was able to keep them from getting what they wanted but he’s been jumpy ever since.

"He has all the security systems online for the first time in ages.And he’s been monitoring every frequency and number Overwatch has ever used to make sure nothing is missed. That’s why he got your call.”

“I am glad he was looking,”

“How are you?” Angela told me what you said during the debriefing.”

“I am…” Satya couldn’t answer. After a few moments Emily decided to change the subject.

“I should check what supplies Winston stocked, would you help me?”

Satya nodded still trying to decide the answer to Emily’s first question. They opened the first crate labeled WINTER GEAR and found a variety of coats and pants all in various sizes and all blue- grey.

They dug through the piles to find their correct sizes  before opening the second winter gear crate to find boots, gloves, goggles and hats.

Satya braided her hair to keep it from getting in the way once she put on the coat. As Emily opened a box of lightweight chest protection.

“Hopefully we won't need this but better to use it if we have it.” Emily said passing one to Satya.

Satya undid the top half of her jumpsuit tying the sleeves around her waist while she put on the vest before putting it back on. She undid the holster too knowing she’d have to remove it before she put the winter pants on.

“Ok, so we have com units too,” Emily said having dived into a new box. “Medpacks, ooh there are even a few biotic field generators, cool.”

There were also boxes with MREs and other survival gear along with three packs.

They loaded the bags with gear and by the time they were done they were only about a half and hour out. Satya and Emily finished changing, then Emily switched places with McCree so he could change.

They all took their seats back on the bridge and McCree filled them in on the extra information Winston had sent while they’d been working.

“The signal is not coming from the Ecopoint its coming from a waystation further to the north. Winston’s scans show that the Ecopoint has been evacuated so the survivors must be trying to hike out.  

“The waypoint facility is partially underground though to help save energy. I’ve already hailed the survivors and requested they get ready to be evacuated but haven't heard back.

“I don’t really wanna go underground but Winston isn't finding any sign of Talon activity in the area so we may have to.

“Y’all have coms right? let’s make sure they are working.”

They took a moment to put on the earpieces, turning them on.

“All right, McCree here, these things on? Sound off.”

“Redcrest, ready to go.” Emily said and then it was Satya’s turn.

“Symmetra reporting.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emily's code name was picked my by British co-worker who suggested a Red Crested Cardinal and I though it was pretty good.

“I’ll go in first, Redcrest, I want you in the middle and Symmetra you watch our backs. Symmetra and I will have weapons ready but hopefully we won’t have to use them.

“Winston will be monitoring but won’t say anything unless it starts going sideways. If Talon does show, shoot first cause they aren’t going to hesitate.”

“Any word from the waypoint?” Emily asked.

“Nothing so they may not be expecting us. Winston also couldn’t find the layout of the waypoint so we are going in blind, be careful.”

The Orca landed and they pulled on their packs, before opening the doors and stepping out into  the snow.

It was bright, too bright, even with eye protection. Satya’s eyes watered as she squinted. She’d copied McCree drawing her weapon and holding it with both hands towards the ground.

Her eyes adjusted some to the brightness and she began scanning the world around her looking for any sign of anything amiss. It was something she was good at; noticing every little thing around her.

Sometimes it overwhelmed her and she wasn’t able to focus on what was important but right now all there was was white and blue anything else was wrong.

But nothing stood out, nothing caught her eye. And they made their way to the door of the waypoint without incident.  

Satya wasn’t sure how McCree opened the door but he did and they all filed quickly inside; the world darkening once the door closed. They waited until their eyes were comfortable before starting down the spiral stairs. At the bottom was another door.   

McCree opened it and they found another a fair sized room. One side had halo and other equipment. They could see the distress signal pinging on a loop on the screen. The other side was a rec area with couches, and a dining table. There was a kitchen fitted along the back wall. Past that was another door that led to the rest of the waypoint.

“My name is Jesse McCree, we got your distress signal, we’re with Overwatch” He said to the room but got no response. They started towards the far door opening it to reveal a small hallway with two doors on each side and one at the end of the hall. The doors on the right were labeled as showers and toilets. They opened the first door on the left it was dark but from the light in the hallway they could see it was filled with bunks.

“My name is Jesse McCree,” he said again, “We got your signal, we’re with Overwatch.”

There was silence for a moment.

“No snowball, it's still my turn,” A small obviously still asleep voice said.

Tucked into the corner bunk behind the door was a figure bundled up is a plush sleeping bag.

They stepped back out into the hall.

“Should we wake her?” Emily asked Jesse who for once looked unsure before he decided.

“Yea, we can't really afford to hang around here too long….”

They all jumped a a scream tore the air and the bunk door slammed shut.”

“Who are you?” the voice asked the speaker attempting to sound strong.

“Jesse McCree, Overwatch,” McCree said then added, “Winston sent us.”

The door opened. “Winston sent you?”

“Yes ma’am, Jesse McCree at your service.”

She laughed with relief launching herself at McCree and wrapping her arms around his waist hugging him tightly.

“I’m Mei, Mei-Ling Zhou. I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Mei? I’ve heard that name before, you the one who gave Winston that little palm tree?”

“Yea,”

“Glad to finally meet you Ms. Mei, this is Emily and this is Satya.  

“Hi, she said. Satya realized Mei was crying now. Emily rushed forward. “Are you alright,”

And Mei nodded and shook her head.

“Where is everyone else,” McCree asked and that broke the last bit of joy in Mei’s face she dissolved into heavy sobbs sinking to the floor with Emily following hugging her tightly.

Satya being unsure how she could help retreated to the main room and made her way to the holo. With a little work she was able to find real time satellite images of the waypoint. There was nothing for miles just endless white. She opened a map of the area in a separate window and tried to find the course Mei had taken to get to the waypoint. She moved south away from the ice fields and to a patch of craggy grey mountains. And there, marked with a green Overwatch insignia, was the Ecopoint.

“There was a storm.” Satya turned and saw Emily had escorted Mei to a couch. She’d mostly stopped crying but seemed oddly disconnected.

“We got into the cryo-chambers to wait it out because we didn’t have enough supplies and we couldn’t get word out. We thought when they realized we were out of contact they’d send help maybe six months tops. But nobody came. I woke up a week ago, nine years after we got in the cryo-chambers. They aren’t supposed to last that long and they malfunctioned I was the only one who survived. I don’t know how.

“I didn’t know how much time had past till I saw all the news. Then I got Winston’s message and knew I couldn’t give up and that I had to get back.

“I walked here and I’ve been here for three days.”

“We’ll get you back don’t you worry, as soon as you’re packed we are good to go," McCree said, “I know Winston will be happy to see you ok.”

“I’ll help her pack up,” Emily said as Mei started towards the bunk room again.

McCree came to stand by Satya evaluating the images on the screen.

“Damn, that must have been hard, waking up like that.” He said quietly.

“She seems very strong to have made it this far.” Satya agreed.

“I don’t get how you could just forget about a whole base and its staff.” McCree said thinking.

“Here let me see something.” He pulled up the waypoint logs. “All these waypoints are linked and send info back and forth. They keep track of all the information communicated between them. If that storm knocked out the connection it should tell us when…”

He trailed off as he found the information he was looking for; the last day any information from the Ecopoint was logged.

“That explains it,” He said.

“What?” Satya asked.

“Two days after that storm hit and knocked out their communication the Overwatch headquarters was bombed. In all the chaos the Ecopoint must have gotten buried and forgotten.”

Satya didn’t know what to say but then their comms which had been quiet since they tested them in the Orca crackled to life.

“McCree there is an unknown ship approaching the waypoint you’ve got  fifteen minutes tops before it gets to you.” Winston said.

“Shit, everyone get your stuff we gotta go.”

Satya quickly pulled on her pack McCree doing the same.

He bolted for the back door just as Emily and Mei re-emerged Mei now wearing a heavy jacket and strange pack on her back.

“Mei you stick with Red, Symmetra when we get outside take lead I’ll cover. Get back to the Orca.”

They opened the first door making their way into the stairwell and up the stairs quickly. The second door opened to blinding white. They did not exit immediately instead letting their eyes adjust and making sure there were no surprises waiting.

McCree tossed Satya the fob that would open the Orca doors.

“Straight to the ship got it, and keep your heads down.”

McCree went out the door weapon raised as soon as he was clear Satya followed with Emily and Mei close behind.

The Orca seemed so far away. There was the roar of another engine as they crossed the empty space. Satya turned to see a sleek black ship descending towards them. McCree fired at it but it did no damage the doors opened on the unknown ship just as  just as they reached the Orca.

They piled in. McCree dove for the pilot’s seat and Satya ripped of her hood and goggles and sayed at the doors’ weapon raised, until they could close. That’s when she saw a streak of nearly invisible purple racing towards the closing doors. At the speed it was moving it would reach the Orca before the doors sealed. The purple had faded completely but she could see the track in the snow.

Satya made her decision and fired once. The figure yelled and stumbled back the cloak faded revealing  a woman in black and purple clutching her shoulder where Satya had hit her. Even at this distance Satya could see the shock in the woman’s eyes of being hit. Satya kept her weapon raised and the doors closed. Blocking Satya’s view of the figure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we have Mei! And plot movement... kinda. I feel like it starts to get a little darker from here. At least I'm trying but I don't know how effective at it I'm going to be. Y'all will just have to let me know ;P Hope you enjoyed. Let me know it you hate it. Let me know if you like it. I tagged it slow burn let me know who you think that centers around.


	8. Chapter 8

The sun had set long before they made it back to the base and a group had assembled to great them. Lena launched herself at Emily hugging her tightly. Angela and Winston went to Mei, who had started crying again before wrapping her arms tightly around Winston’s neck.   
“With all this fan fair you’d think we’ve been gone months.” McCree said with an easy smile as he and Satya migrated towards Genji and an omnic that could only be his master.  
“It wasn’t exactly the most standard mission and it was quite a surprise.” Genji countered.   
“But it went ok, Winston was right though, about Talon monitoring old frequencies. I’m surprised they only sent one person. I heard the shot, did you hit them?” McCree asked Satya who nodded.  
“In the shoulder it appeared to be a woman, tan with black and purple hair and some sort of cloaking device.”  
“Not familiar with anyone like that. Hopefully they will think twice about try’en to upstage us again.”  
“Hopefully,” She addressed Genji, “Is this the monk you spoke about before.” She asked.  
“Yes! Jess, Satya this my teacher and friend Zenyatta.”  
“Nice to meet you, Genji’s told me a lot about you. Although he didn’t mention the floating.” McCree said adding the last bit because as he’d introduced himself Zenyatta had indeed gone from standing to pulling his legs up into a crossed position. He had not moved though and was now floating at the same height he’d been standing at moments ago.  
“Fascinating,” Satya said to herself then realized she’d spoken aloud, “My apologies I’m Satya.”  
“No need to apologize, Genji mentioned on the flight that you are a hard-light architect, that has been something that has always interested me although I don’t really understand it myself, but I find the universe is full a fascinating things waiting for our wits to grow sharper. Perhaps some time you would show me hard light manipulation first hand?”  
“I apologize but I do not have the required technology to do so. I am no longer a part of Viskar.”  
“I’m sorry.”   
“Do not be, while I am still coming to terms with my new life the beauty of hard light is something I will never regret getting to experience.” 

Dr. Zeigler announced that she would escort Mei down to the med bay and Emily and Winston volunteered to go as well. The remaining five unspokenly agreed to head to the dormitories not wanting to overwhelm Mei any further with too many people.  
They found themselves sitting at a dining table. Genji and Zenyatta disappearing into the kitchen and returning with reheated leftovers from a vegetable curry they’d made before the rescue party had landed. It was quiet. Even McCree and Lena didn’t say much and the soft occasional chiming of Zenyatta shifting was the only constant sound. 

Eventually the silence was broken by Satya and McCree’s holos ringing with a message from Winston requesting they speak with him tonight while everything was still fresh in their memories. 

They made their way to the conference room they’d gathered in only a day before but it felt like so much longer. Emily and Winston were already present sitting down at the far end.   
“How’s she doing?” McCree asked once they were in earshot.  
“Physically Dr. Zhou is fine. She’s a shaken from everything and she’ll have to learn to adjust to the new world she’s been thrown into but she’s always been a optimistic person and I don’t see that changing. Emily has agreed to help her if or when she needs it.  
“I’d like to hear what happened from you all though.” He said shifting the burden to the other two.

“Well,” McCree started, “I told you about what I found about why the Ecopoint hadn’t been evacuated nine years ago and everything on the way back. With everything that was going on is Switzerland and after I guess it just got buried in some system and since no one at the Ecopoint ever spoke up they got forgotten.  
As for Talon, you said fifteen but it was really like seven minutes. I’ve never seen a ship like the one that showed up before military or private but had that menacing black look Talon thinks they’ve got exclusive rights to. It was small designed for speed and stealth over cargo and had some sort of shielding that caught the light when I shot the thing. Satya will have to fill in the rest after at I got in the Orca and got us the hell out of Dodge.”

“I saw a figure jump from the craft as it hovered about six feet from the ground. They immediately engaged some a technology that rendered them nearly invisible to the naked eye although after a moment they were completely invisible. They were moving at a speed that would allow them to reach our ship before the doors closed and before we could lift off so I took a shot at the figure. I was able to hit them in the shoulder and their cloak disengaged. They were tan, wearing black and purple, had dark hair, and appeared female beyond that I didn’t get a good enough look at them.”  
“I’m not aware of anyone with that technology associating with Talon. However, they may be someone new. Are you alright after having shot them?”

“I think that among this particular group it would not be strange to say, it is not the first person I’ve shot and if I’d have fatally wounded them it would not have been the first person I’ve killed.”  
“Well luckily or unluckily you didn’t add to the list.” Winston said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t get a better E.T.A on the ship but whatever cloak it was using hid it until it was almost right on top of the Waypoint.”  
“No harm no foul but seems like we might have to try and figure out how they are able to hide themselves if we don’t want any more surprises.” McCree suggested.  
“Indeed, I’ll start doing to research with Athena until then we just have to hope they don’t try anything.”  
“Well they probably know we’ve got people gathering here so we might be inadvertently riling them up. Might be best for us to stop moving around so much.”  
“I agree, I’ll send word out to the other’s and ask them to lay low for now. I’ve kept you both long enough. Thank you, please get some rest.”   
“Seriously though,” McCree said as they entered the lift that would take them to the residential wing. “Don’t feel like you can’t talk about it if something is bothering you. We’d think no less of you.”  
“Thank you, goodnight.” She said as the lift doors opened and they stepped out.   
“Goodnight to you too.”  
Satya opened the door to her room not turning on the lights. The sheer balcony curtains billowed out as the sea breeze blew into the room. She chided herself forgetting to close the door after she’d come back inside this morning.  
She moved the bags of clothes that were still on the floor to the side and took off her jumpsuit leaving her in just a tank top and underwear. She closed the window and crawled into bed. The exhaustion of the day caught up to her as she lay there but it still took her far too long to fall to sleep.  
She woke up feeling like she hadn’t slept. She lifted her arm and checked the integrated holo; 0502. She couldn’t sleep anymore so she sat up and decided to try and pick a recipe to make with McCree. She reached for her the holo he’d given her but her hand met empty space. She looked at the desk seeing that the holo was not where she’d placed it and frowned. She stood and searched the room. It had not slipped between the mattress and wall it was not behind the desk. It was not in any of the closets and it was not in the bags of clothes. She pulled on a pair of rather unattractive shorts from one of the bags and an Overwatch t shirt before addressing Athena who responded instantly.   
“Can you track the location of the holopad McCree lent me?”  
“Of course Ms. Vaswani would you like me to link it to your integrated holo?”  
“Yes please.”  
Satya watched as the map loaded seeing that it was on the top of the watchpoint. She furrowed her eyebrows confused as to how it had gotten there.  
“Would I be able to reach that location?” She asked, “I am not sure what areas are restricted the me.”  
“Winston has raised your clearance level and there are not unrestricted areas between here and the designated location. Might I suggest however, if you plan to retrieve your holo. I recommend taking some water and snacks as it is quite a long walk.”  
“Thank you Athena.”  
Satya picked up a worn cloth bag that had been mixed in with the cloths and threw it across her shoulder. She stopped at the kitchen taking Athena’s suggestion to heart and deciding that it might be nice to have breakfast after her hike. She’d knew the watchpoint has once been a tourist attraction so she knew the view from the top must be stunning. She filled her bag with food and a couple bottles of water. The map directed her to an old path that climbed up the mountain. Athena had been right; it was quite a walk but once she was about half way Satya began looking forward to her breakfast at the top already admiring the views of the sea. As she climbed the last section of stairs and reached the summit she saw the dilapidated viewing area. The concert was cracked and weeds pushed their way through it and the remains of a fence stood like a last desperate bastion of civilization but the view beyond it was spectacular as the sun rose. She could see some of the cavities the base had been carved into along the seaside. And even though she had no idea how her holo tablet could have ended up here she did not regret it had.   
She looked at her map and saw her tablet was to her left where the Rock dipped.  
“Who are you?” An unfamiliar voice spoke. Satya looked up tensing. A severe but rather haggard looking man stood before her with a bow knocked but relaxed. And then it clicked in Satya’s mind.  
“I am the owner of the holopad you took. I’ve come to retrieve it.” She raised an eyebrow and kept her voice even. It was easier with his weapon relaxed but she didn’t doubt he had the skill to draw it and shoot her before she had time to move.  
“Where did you find it?” She asked having another minor revelation. “Did you climb through my balcony and take it?” He paused for a moment before nodding.   
“Are you related to Genji?” There was a resemblance and she could think of no one else who would climb the cliff face like Genji had admitted to doing.  
Another pause and another nod.  
“He is my brother.”  
“I was unaware he had a brother.”Something flashed in the man's eyes relief but also disappointment.  
“Although we haven’t been able to talk at length recently and I have only known him for a month. My name is Satya.”  
“Hanzo Shimada.” He answered.  
“May I call you Hanzo?” She asked and he nodded again.  
“How long have you been here?”  
“About four days,” Hanzo answered.   
“Why? Why did you just not come down to the watchpoint.”  
“I am not ready to face my brother. If I may, why did you decided to come here in search of your holopad.”  
“The watchpoint AI tracked it here.”  
“You seem unconcerned I am here.”  
“As I said the AI tracked it here, which by my understanding means, she knows you took it and she did not deem you a threat to me or the watchpoint. And although I am frustrated with her withholding the information that is a battle for another time. Right now I just want to watch the sunrise and eat my breakfast. Would you care to join me.”   
He looked like he was about the reject her offer but she heard a growl answer her in reply.  
“It seems your stomach has decided for you. I’ve brought more than enough to share.”   
She settled on a patch of concrete near the edge that was not as overgrown and he reluctantly followed.   
She offered him a bottle of water first before setting the bag so that its contents were easily visible taking an orange for herself.   
They watched the horizon for a while before Satya spoke again.  
“Why are you hiding up here, I’m sure your brother would be glad to see you?”  
“It is not so simple.”   
“While I admit I am not the best person to deal with ‘not so simple’ situations I will do my best if you care to share.”  
“You’ve met Genji.”  
“Obviously, I have.”   
“You’ve seen what’s happened to him.”  
“The cybernetics, I have.”  
“I am the cause.”  
She kept quiet not wanting to make any assumptions that could upset him and waited for him to continue.   
“We fought and I killed him, or I thought I had. And a few months ago he reappeared as if back from the dead more machine than man. And I can’t help but wonder how much of my brother is left or if it is just a machine pretending to be him.”  
“That is indeed a difficult challenge. At what point does a person stop being human. However I don’t think you will ever be able to answer that if you don’t face him. But I understand your hesitation. I know how hard it can be to face your mistakes but I think you should still make the choice while the choice is still yours to make.”

She paused. “This world is cruel and chaotic and it can take everything from you in a moment and I believe it is better to have the answers, even if you don’t like them, than to have unanswered questions.”

She stood, “I think I will hike this mountain again, it was enjoyable. Goodbye.”  
“Your holopad,” He called as she turned to go. “Keep it my integrated holo will suffice for now. You can return it if you decided to come down from this mountain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They've made it home and Satya made two new friends. Fun fact two chapters ago Satya saw Hanzo crawling up the wall but he was too far away to be seen well. Also Zenyatta uses one of my favorite quotes. Next chapter finally has stuff from Satya's past pre-warning it deals with abuse and since I don't know if what I was writing sounded as serious as I wanted it to I just tried to turn it up to eleven. 
> 
> Thank you for making it this far, writing this keeps me sane at work.


	9. Chapter 9

It took Hanzo almost two weeks to come down the mountain. And Satya was not sure whether her hikes up had lengthened or shortened his stay. She couldn’t help but think she’d lengthened it by supplying him with food; after his initial reluctance he began accepting it readily.

They would chat while they ate. Hanzo occasionally asking about what his brother was doing and Satya would wrinkle her nose and tell him what mischief Genji had most recently gotten into.

“When I initially came I was not able to wear my prosthetic for a week because it was damaged and during that time he thought it appropriate to challenge me to try his video game. Obviously I rejected his offer then but he asked again a few nights ago and I was unable to decline.”

She smirked thinking about it, “after a few minor hiccups learning the mechanics I started to gain on his lead at which point he grew so indignant he gradually began saying ‘no,’ repeatedly and more and more audibly until he stood up practically shouting and jumping up and down. When I won he collapsed to the floor with an arm thrown over his eyes before muttering in Japanese that he ‘gave up’ and if I had any honor ‘you’d leave me to die here’.”

Satya suspected that was the reason Hanzo finally decided to come down because she’d actually heard him chuckle after she finished speaking.

When Athena announced over the intercom system that someone asking for Genji was at the front gate Genji had jumped up and practically ran to great him. McCree however had been a little more reluctant and even though he’d left his weapon in the armory he still rested his hand on his belt just above where it would have normally rested. His eyes narrowed as if realizing something as Genji chattered at his brother in very fast Japanese before he asked, “was he the reason I got shot in the ass?”

And  Genji nodded furiously a stupid grin plastered across his face.

McCree muttered something Satya couldn’t understand.

It was decided Hanzo would be allowed to stay, although like Satya had been he was required to wear the visitor band initially. And then there were ten people on the base and while there were still plenty of places to hid away they all lived on the same floor and most of the common areas were never completely empty.

Satya had continued her hikes up the Rock enjoying the view of gulls, ships, and sailboats gliding past. She had not seen Hanzo up here since he’d joined them.

“I knew this used to be a popular spot but I can’t believe I haven’t visited before now.” Genji dropped down cross legged beside her.

“It is peaceful. This is where I met your brother,” She said taking a sip of tea from a thermos.

“He mentioned, why did you decide to come up here?”

“Did he not tell you? While we were in Antarctica he climbed down the cliff face, into my room through my open balcony window and took my holo tablet. Athena tracked the location and I came to get it back.”

Genji howled in laughter.    

“She did not tell me he was up here however and I have yet to discuss it with her.”

“Did he at least return the tablet?”

“Yes  he gave it back shortly after you gave him his tour.” Then she added.

“May I ask about what happened between you? He mentioned briefly but it was a very short explanation.”

Genji was quiet for a moment and Satya watched his face carefully but it was blank and impassive in a way she felt she knew all too well.

“My apologies I hope I didn’t offend you?”

“No,” he said finally drawing his leg up and resting his chin of his knee. “It is a story I haven't told in a long time and then I’ve only needed to tell a few people, Jesse, Angela, Winston, and most other people I knew, they were around when it happened and most everyone else learned through whispers. I’ve only told it to one other, and that was Zenyatta, how about we trade? If I tell you, you tell me something about yourself.”

“Alright, would you like me to answer first?”

“No, I came and found you, it’s only right I start, what happened between us is just the end of something that had been brewing for years and I do not just mean mine and Hanzo’s life time.”

He leaned back on one arm and ran his fingers through his hair. The green had become quite faded and his black roots were prominent.

“My family history says we are part dragon we made a deal with them to help protect people we were in charge of. Whether or not you believe it is up to you but the Shimada were one of the oldest families in Japan, just as old as the Emperor’s; and unbroken line for hundreds of years.

“First we were protectors and samurai and over time we started withdrawing into ourselves as the politics of the world around us became deadly we remained a largely neutral force as Japan reordered itself along new alliances preferring to work in the background. By the time the Mejii era began we had two different faces, we became champions of the arts and education supporting and funding Japanese culture and then there was the other side, involved in all the nasty things you’d  yakuza to be involved it and mostly everyone just looked the other way.

“Things stayed much the same way but over the years we became more and more relaxed until most of the clan was entitled old men thinking they had the right to everything, and sure some of them where Shimada but not in the same way Hanzo and I are, they didn’t have a connection to the dragons. They were still, powerful, however and I admit I didn’t realize just how powerful they were.

“I admit I fell for the fairytale of the story. I envied the old noble warriors my mother told us and I came to disagree with the path we’d found ourselves on, being led by old men who hadn’t ever held a sword, so I rebelled. I grew distant from my family. One thing led to another and I was approached by Overwatch as an informant on my family, I agreed, thinking I could help return the Shimada name to something more noble, and then our father died.  

“When things got to be too much I confronted Hanzo and told him, I told him Overwatch could help us and, to put it lightly, he reacted badly and attacked me.  He nearly killed me but luckily Overwatch was close by and they managed to save my life.

“I was angry about if for a very long time, I made it my personal vendetta to destroy my brother and the clan but I could never find my brother. After Blackwatch fell I ended up in Nepal and met Zenyatta who helped me heal.

“I am grateful now I never found my brother.” Was the last thing he said.

“I was not aware your family had so much history, McCree did mention you were former yakuza but that is as far as he went.” Satya said as she took and apple from her bag. She broke it in half and offered a piece to Genji who looked at her with a sense of awe that caused her cheeks to heat up.

“What?” She said knowing exactly what had put that look on his face. “It is not hard simply a matter of leverage.”

“Show me.” He demanded.

“I only have one apple hence the reason I split it in the first place.” She said.

“Oh,” he said deflating slightly but taking the apple.

“But I can show you later, if you’d like, it is a nice little trick. Now what would you like to know.”

“As much as you are willing to tell me.”

“That may take a while.”

“We have time.”

“Hm, I have never had to tell anyone some I apologize if it is disorderly.”

.o. .o. .o. .o. .o. .o.

Her memories were not chronological but came in bits and pieces. And now after she’d been away from Vishkar for several months she was beginning to realize what her time with them had done to her.

A sound or smell might cause her heart to seize for a moment  before slow relaxing. There were places she would not let her mind wander, but for the sake of the narrative She could try and piece it together, certain events stood out and she could fill in the blanks to make the pieces whole.

There would be light and color, and dust. She could see the dust particles floating in the air. She was warm. She walked home from school in a faded uniform. She washed it too often but she treasured it and couldn’t stand to see it dirty.

There were people everywhere laughing and shouting, talking to each other. She could hear Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, and English and they all mixed into a beautiful hum like music… music. Her heart leapt just thinking about the word.

Her mother was a dance teacher and was teaching her and her older sister. Her sister was six years older than she was and on her way to becoming a professional dancer, like their mother had been when she was younger.

Satya knew that’s what she wanted to do… at least when she didn’t want to be a doctor.

There was no school tomorrow. Which made her sad, she wanted to be in school, they were starting fractions on Monday. Math was her favorite subject because everything worked out nice and evenly. Everything had its place.

She made a sharp left down a narrow alley and then up a set of stairs opening the door and spilled into her house. It was quiet inside. No music filtered around the room. She turned the corner into the living area and saw two unknown figures sitting with their backs to the door.

Her mother smiled at her. “Satya come here please.”

She felt herself close up as she set her bag down and went to her mother glancing at the figures as their faces came into view. Her mother wrapped an arm around her waist.

She recognized them, kind of. They were wearing the same uniforms as a group of people who’d come to their class on Monday and had tested them for a private school.

“Satya these people are from the Viskar Academy. They said you did very well on their test and wanted to see if you’d like to go to their school.”

She didn’t say anything and kept her eyes on the rug beneath her.

“You tested very well, we think you’d do wonderfully in our program.” One of the visitors said. She pulled out a chrisp pamphlet from her bag and offered it to Satya, who took it.

Her heart had started beating furiously in her chest when she saw the beautiful school on the pamphlet cover. But she knew it must be expensive and she knew her family couldn’t afford it.

“You tested so well we are able to offer you a full scholarship as well as some compensation to your family for the burden of allowing you to attend. It is a boarding school and you will have to move to the academy for the duration of your stay.”

Boarding school… for a moment she gave up on the idea. She didn’t want to leave her home and her family but then she thought about the school and she felt torn.

“You don’t need to make your decision now. It is still about a month until the new term starts. Think about it, discuss it as a family. We’ve left our number and you will have until three days before the term starts to decide. I hope you do decide to join us.”

“Can I still dance?” She said so quietly she wasn’t even sure she’d heard herself speak.

“Yes, we have on of the best dance programs in the country.” Somehow they’d heard her speak.

“Ok,” is all she’d answered before they’d left.

She was still holding the pamphlet in her hand she finally opened it. Everything inside matched the cover: shining and perfect.

She decided right there that’s what she wanted. She remembered that clearly: the moment she decided to go. It was irrevocably etched into her being.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part one of the flashback. The whole reason I wanted to write this was to explore Satya's past and how she got to where she is. This chapter is only the beginning it will continue on in the next and will move back and fourth between the past and present. I also wanted to try and retell the Genji Hanzo incident in a slightly differentway because we know the story already and there are only so many ways to retell it. I also can't help but wonder why the dragons, who are very noble beings in myth, from what I've heard, would continue the support the Shimada with all the horrible things things they've gotten involved in. I have a longer version but I thought I'd keep it short for now. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed. For anyone who plays Sym how do you feel about the rework?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does contain abuse through excessive control and emotional manipulation.

She remembers the day she left her home with only a small bag.

“You won’t need anything. Everything will be provided to you,” They had said. “But if you’d like to bring something to remind you of home please do.”

She’d thought a lot about that, she wasn’t sure what to take because she was worried about it getting lost. So in the end she’d settled for a smooth river rock she’d found on a school trip. It wasn’t much but she liked to hold it when she felt afraid or overwhelmed. Her mother also gave her a simple necklace from her costume jewelry collection.   She had a handful of other things too but she could not remember them 

An academy employee came to pick her up and escort her to the school.    

She could still feel the anticipation swirling in her stomach as she’d gotten further and further from her home. She remembered the anxiety when she’d arrived just before dinner.

“I will show you where you’ll sit and after dinner you will be given your information.”

“Thank you,” She said in a low voice. The woman’s nose wrinkled. 

“You may only speak English here, do you understand?”

She nodded watching her feet.

“You will make eye-contact and answer verbally whenever you are spoken to. Do you understand?” Her voice wasn’t angry but it was unyielding.

Satya lifted her eyes glancing momentary at the woman whose gaze had sifted to something she didn’t know the word for at the time but her matured mind filtered as disdain.

“Yes, I understand.” She said with as much force as she could muster. It wasn’t much. And the woman smiled but it was not kind.

Her parents were not allowed to visit the Academy and the students were not allowed to go home. 

_ We have an intensive year round schedule any breaks longer than a day would hinder student’s progress. _

But the students could write letters, in English. And after their teacher’s approved them the letters would be sent.

_ Viskar Academy is attempting a unique education system and any information about our teaching process is confidential _ .

And then there was the language.

_ Students come to Viskar Academy at an age where they are sufficiently proficient in their native languages and to encourage fluency in English; student will be taught exclusively in English. Because student’s also come from a variety of cultures in order to create cohesion and allow for shared experiences students may only interact with each other in English. _

And she remembered the only time she’d forgotten. She’d been walking back to her room, alone, singing a song her grandmother had taught her when she hear her name ring through the hall.

“Vaswani!” Satya froze and all noise in the hall stopped as the last note of her name had faded from the air. She turned around to face the teacher who’d spoke her eyes on her toes. 

“Do you know why you are in trouble?”

She shook her head still watching her feet.

“You will answer me, verbally and make eye contact when spoken to.”

“No,” She said quietly raising her eyes and glancing at  the teacher’s forehead. 

The teacher raised her voice and spoke to the students who had lingered in the hallway.

“Why is Vaswani in trouble?” 

“She was using Telugu.” One of the older students said, “That’s not allowed.”

“And why not? Do speak Telugu dear?” 

“No ma’am,” the student said.

“Isn’t that rude?” The teacher directed her questions back to Satya, “Isn’t it rude of you to make her feel bad by speaking Telugu.”

“Yes,” She said at barley a whisper.

“Excuse me?”

“Yes,” She said louder her voice catching. She could feel her nose burning and her throat tighten as she tried not to cry. 

“Hush, this is your fault you shouldn’t be crying. Now since this is the first time you’ve done something wrong apologize to your classmates and that will be the end of this.”

Satya did her best to breathe evenly as she did.

“I’m sorry for speaking Telugu it was wrong of me.”

There was silence again before the student who’d first spoken replied. 

“We accept your apology.” 

“Well,” The teacher said now smiling, “Good, I hope you’ll learn for this Vaswani, you really are a good student and it would be a shame if you couldn’t continue here because you did not follow our rules.” 

Satya nodded and the second she was released she headed towards her room. 

Class was over and dinner was in a hour. Safe in her room she picked up her stone and held it in her palm turning it over and over in her hand. 

She’d decided to skip dinner, not wanting to face everyone after she’d been crying, but at the five minute mark her holo dinged with the dinner alarm along with a note that skipping meals would result in disciplinary action so begrudgingly she’d sat up and gone.

Time would pass in a blur from there as a majority of it was uneventfully. She came to find comfort in the routines of Viskar Academy; with most of her day mapped out for her there was no uncertainty. If she fell asleep at her desk an alarm would chime to wake her up so she could finish her work before going to bed. Reminders would ensure she never forgot her homework and a mandatory light out made sure she always got enough sleep.  She was a good student so she encountered few problems. And they were sympathetic to her. They understood when she got overwhelmed in the crowded dining hall or if she complete some task with her own unique ritual. Many of the students, she’d noticed, where similar and she couldn’t help but feel she was slightly better off then they were. 

Years passed and her letters home began to dwindle. She was busy enough with her classes that she rarely had time to think of writing home.  She would remember once every few months but it could be difficult to write at length about anything with the limits placed on them. 

Satya understood, however, the Academy’s program was so unique she could see how they were worried about copycat institution diluting Viskar’s system and lowering its appeal. And none in her family have been particularly gifted in English so their responses were never quite what she wanted. 

She was 13 when everything changed. She hadn't learned about it until nearly three day afterwards. The holos at the Academy only showed the news that the teachers thought was appropriate for the students to see. So information about the disaster was not broadcast until after she talked to her advisor. 

When she had been called to her advisors office she had been confused. Satya could not think as to why her advisor would call to see her and the solemn look on the woman's face when she opened the door to the office did nothing to make her feel better.

She could still feel the twist in her gut when she remembered it. Her adviser’s face had been pinched into a frown and her square glasses had been resting on a thin gold chain around her neck. 

“Sit down,” was all she said to Satya. Before heavy silence fell over the room. 

The door opened again and the Director of the Academy entered and Satya felt her heart plummet into the floor. She could not think what she could have done to cause the Director to decide to meet with her personally. 

The Director saw the fear in her eyes and said quietly, “you are not in any trouble Satya but I am afraid I have some bad news I need to relay to you.” He paused for a moment, “We have not told the rest of the student body yet because we want to ensure that any students affected by this are informed by their advisors and not through gossip. Two days ago there was an attack by an unknown group against several areas of India. 

“The attacks were carried out simultaneously in order to impress upon the people their coordination and resources. Hyperabad was one of the areas attacked and we regret to inform you that your family home was destroyed. There is still a lot of unknowns. But several bodies were recovered from your home and it is believed that at least four members of your family died in the disaster including your parents, your grandmother, and your younger brother. “

Satya was immediately conflicted when she heard that news.  A part of her, a part not yet touched by Viskar felt sorrow as she learned the people she most cared about were gone. But then and unbidden little voice rose in the back of her mind.  _ They are practically strangers now _ it said.  _ When was the last time you’ve spoken to them, when was the last time they’d written you a letter? Could you even speak to them now?  _

She also felt a guilty kernel of relief that she wasn’t in trouble because if nothing else she knew her parents would want the best for her, especially now.  And then she thought about what the director had said,  _ four members of your family. _

“What about my sister?” She asked and she wasn’t assured by the looks on their faces.

“Your sister was uninjured. She was in Mumbai filming for a new movie. She’s been interviewed by several local news outlets.” The director said pulling up a video on her advisors holo. A beautiful woman Satya barley recognized looked back at her. She looked at the headline.   _ Priyanka Vaswani’s Entire Family Killed in the Hyperabad Bombing. _ And the video began, she heard her sister’s voice for the first time in years.

“I have lost everyone I cared about most in this world today and I pray that the authorities find whatever group is responsible for this horrible act both for myself and for all the other family affected by this event.”

The video froze as the clip ended and everything Satya had been feeling seemed to shut off until she was numb.

“Thank you,” She said quietly. “What do I do now?” 

“We’ve decided to cancel class for an afternoon to have a period of mourning for all the students affected by this event. That will be tomorrow. The next day is Saturday our normal weekly break that will be unchanged. After that we feel returning to a normal schedule is most beneficial but of course we will provide counselors if you need to speak with someone.

“Again I’m sorry I have to deliver such bad news but as long as you keep doing  well you can continue here. We will not abandon you. In fact we’ve been discussing moving you and several others into a more intensive program. Your teachers have said you are doing exceptionally well and that you are leagues ahead in your hard light manipulation class. If you’d like we want to start you on an hard light focused path.”

When she thought about that she felt guilty again, because for just a moment the grief she felt from loosing her family gave way as her heart leapt with excitement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter I had the most difficulty with because I had to explore how Satya has been groomed and manipulated by Vishkar in a nonphysically abusive way but in a mentally abusive way through exerting complete control.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has one of my favorite scenes, before there was a story there was this scene floating around in my head. I hope you enjoy.

“I can’t imagine being away from my family for so long at that age,” Genji said after Satya had decided to stop her story. The sun was setting and she wanted did not want to climb down with it in their eyes or wait until it was dark. 

“Even though you grew to resent your family?”

“That came later after I learned what was going on, when I was young my family meant the world to me. If you could not go home did you ever leave the Academy grounds?”

“Oh, often, there were many planned excursions. We went to museums and events. We saw plays and even sat in on parliament. And we would visit Viskar and see the different fields they were working in: hard light, sonic technology, renewable energies. We had something almost every Saturday.”

 “You mentioned you felt you were luckier than your classmates, what did you mean?”

“When I was little,” She started,  “my mother said I was a quiet child and I had trouble understanding people. Not their words really but their meanings. The way people’s faces and tones changed confused me. But my mother helped me. I learned what expressions convey different things by learning different dances because your facial expressions are just as important as your hand and footwork to tell the story. I learned everything had meaning and it made me conscious to the fact I had to understand that meaning. I am not perfect but after being conscious of it so long I think I have done well. I do sometimes make mistakes misreading someone. But it is usually with myself that I most often forget. Sometimes I will realize I am holding my expression in such a way or that the tone of my words could be jarring for whomever I’m speaking to.”

“And what about here? Have you had any difficulties? Who is the most difficult to understand.”

“Winston, but I think that is because he is not human.”

“What about me how do I fit in?”

“You are rather easy. Your eyebrows are very expressive.” He did his best to look offended but let it lapse after only a moment. 

“I heard Emily and Lena invited you to spend a few days in London with them?”

“Yes I’m looking forward to it, I have never been to London, I am hoping I will have the opportunity to see the different styles of architecture especially the Georgian architecture.

“I admit I am not familiar with architectural styles what do you like about it?”

“It is usually clean, not overly ornate and while there is a lot of variation things are precisely proportioned and symmetry is emphasised.”

“Where you an architect, a building architect, with Viskar?”

“For a while and then I was moved to a more specialized role. Including helping assist in the negotiation and planning of Viskar projects.”

“Like Rio,” 

“Yes I was part of the proposal team, however I was reassigned after the community center was built.”

“So before the break-in.”

She nodded. “Yes I was uninvolved in that incident. But it did confirm my assessment that the Rio branch needed better security. Although it was only ever my own musings.

“That was my specialty as an architect, finding potential weaknesses in the designs and how they could be taken advantage of. It was not the only area I worked in but it was one I often consulted on.”

“If Winston ever gets the simulator running  for training it will be interesting to see how you handle the courses. We can see which of us is the better ninja.”

“And have a repeat of your video game meltdown?”She pulled a loose hair off of her shirt. “No thank you.”

“I am a much better ninja in real life.”

“McCree would insist on making some sort of wager if you’d like to make a claim like that.”

“I would not be opposed,”

“Hmm, but what should we wager, I can think of nothing you have that I want?”

“My spiderman pajama pants?”

Satya snorted. “I think not.”

“It doesn’t have to be an object you could have me do something embarrassing like walk around the common room in my underwear.”

Satya opened her mouth to respond then closed it getting a pensive look in her eye.

“Are you actually considering it!” Genji asked his voice reaching a higher octave than it should.

“No,” She said her face feeling warm, “I would not want to traumatize any of our colleagues. We do not have to decide now I have seen Winston’s timeline for getting the simulator running.”

They had reached the old trail head and started back towards the base. 

“That is true, but since I am going to win I need to decide what I want from you.”

“We will see.” Satya said. 

She was given a new packet of documents, including a passport with her new alias, by Winston the day before she was set to leave. They did not take the Orca but instead traveled by car to a small Spanish airport to take a flight to London. And once they’d arrived they took a taxi into the city. They dropped off their things and showed Satya around the area before finding a small pub to have dinner in and discuss their plans.

Both Lena and Emily were free the next day and offered to show Satya some of their favorite places to shop to help her fill out her wardrobe. Most of the clothes she’d looked through before proved inadequate for various reasons. Winston had let her know that since she was now officially apart of his recall efforts he was able to provide her with a salary. It was small but considering she had no expenses it was more than adequate. 

“We want to help you rebuild your life and you can’t do that without money.” He’d said and she was grateful.  And while she was saving most of it she still had enough to enjoy herself during her little trip.  Their first full day was spent visiting second hand stores, in the morning, bigger department stores in the afternoon. And by the end of the day all three had near bursting bags. They got Chinese take away to finish off the day. And as they ate around the coffee table Emily and Lena let Satya know the next day they would be busy. Emily had several patients to see and Lena, who worked as a freelance messenger already had several delivery requests. Her chronal accelerator sat on a stand by the windows. Glowing in the low light.

“I will be fine by myself,” Satya assured them.

“Although if you have any recommendations for places to visit I would appreciate your suggestions.”

They suggested several things, she found an architecture tour that interested her and she bought a ticket. When dinner was over they agreed to watch a movie that had come out while they’d been at the watchpoint; a romantic comedy based loosely on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It was ridiculous but endearing and Satya felt it was a much better resolution that the original. 

The next day Satya sat at a corner table of a little cafe she’d passed the day before with Emily and Lena. She’d finished her tour a half-hour earlier and had looked forward to sitting down for a while. The cafe was busy but not overly crowded. Most of the little tables were filled. She wasn’t really paying attention and instead was looking around a map of the area trying to plan tomorrow when she heard a voice; one that was distinctly not British ask her. “is this seat taken?”

She answered “no,” not looking up expecting the person to take the chair to join another table but instead they sat down across from Satya. She still did not look up hoping they would leave. When they did not and she decided she would. She slipped her tablet into her bag and glanced at person sitting across from her as she started to stand then instantly froze.

“Hey,” a familiar smiling face said. Although she could see it in much greater detail now that they sat across from her. Violet eyes were framed by thick eyelashes and purple eyeshadow. Her tan skin was marked only by a small mole under her left eye. One side of her head was shorn and Satya could see now the purple augmentation glowing slightly under a hoodie. The rest of her hair fell on the right the black then purple fading at the tips.

“Aye, chica if you keep staring at me like that you’ll make be blush.” She said her already wide smile growing. 

“Who are you?” Satya said sharply. “What do you want?”

“Calm down we have plenty of time to chat. May I call you Satya? Vaswani just sounds too formal.” She pushed the hood off her head.

“Who are you,” Satya asked again, “how do you know my name?” 

“If you know where to look, you can find pretty much anything on anyone.” The stranger said, “You, though, you were tough, after our little meet and greet on ice I  spent days searching online trying to figure out who you were but I couldn’t find anything. Not even a trace. Which is weird, but it only made you more interesting because the only people with no trace of themselves online are people who have either erased themselves or someone else has erase them. And your face was so familiar, I knew I’d seen you before.  And then it hit me.”

She reached into her bag and pulled out familiar magazine.

“Ta-da, I’d almost forgotten I bought this. ‘Satya Vaswani, the Future of Viskar’  I’ve had this for years, lucky print can’t be destroyed like data can, no.”

“What do you want?” Satya asked an icy tone tinting her words.

“Relax, I just wanted to meet you. It’s not everyday you get shot by a goddess.”She winked at Satya who felt herself blush slightly but her gaze stayed impassive.

“And who did I shoot?” She asked again slowly with all the command she could muster. 

The smile flickered for just a minute.

“Sombra.” She answered.

“Are you Talon?”

 “Is that really what you want to talk about?”

“Yes, I want to know if beyond your fascination you see me as an enemy and if I should see you as one.” 

“I am not an enemy. I want to be your friend.”

“And what will that cost me?”

“I’m hurt that you think my friendship comes with a price,” She said pressing a hand to her chest in mock disappointment before returning to her previous aloofness when Satya’s expression did not change, “I’m sure I’ll think of something. So what do you say? Friends?”

“You are Talon.”

“And you are Vishkar.” She said like it solved everything.

“I was Viskar, but they decided I was no longer useful and saw fit to have me removed from my position.”

She’d said too much. She’d admitted her vulnerability. And she was sure Sombra would find some way to use it against her. But when she looked up that glint of mischief in Sombra’s eyes was gone and she’d become serious.

“That explains why they did such a good job of destroying you.”

She took something from her pocket and slide a purple piece of folded paper across the table. “Take this, if you ever need me.” 

Satya tapped her fingers on the table before extending her hand to pull the paper towards her her fingers brushing Sombra’s momenterialy. 

“And if you need to contact me?”

“I’m sure I’ll figure something out. Until next time, Satya.”There was a hiss of static and flash of purple and Sombra was gone. No one else in the cafe seemed to notice.

Satya sat for a few minutes longer looking at the paper still under her fingers. She picked it up and unfolded it seeing a number, 6102411-23, and an email gonephishing69@-----. com. Satya scoffed at the joke before wondering if she should inform the others of her meeting. 

Sombra had not denied aligning herself with Talon and seemed to confirm it through her implications and she worried if she told Overwatch of their meeting she would lose what little ground she had with them. 

If she didn’t and they found out later it could be just as or more damaging.  But she’d seen how quickly Winston had responded to the threat of Talon finding Mei and she was worried that any encounter that did not lead to her being injured would lead to distrust. And she felt their trust was so precarious right now that she didn’t want to risk it. If something happened she would tell them but until then she would say nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Satya is keeping secrets! And she's made a new friend...maybe. Sombra has a habit of popping up uninvited so I'm sure that trend will continute ;P. 
> 
> I am trying desperetly to keep ahead of what I am updating but I am only a few chapters ahead. 
> 
> I also wanted to address a little more about Satya and how I think she has learned to cope with the world but I admit I don't have much knowledge in that area. So hopefully I have done ok. I didn't want to seem like I was ignoring the fact that she was autistic but having very little experience I feel like I am liable to do more harm than good. I apologize if I've seemed to misrepresent anything in any way it was unintentional. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it! See you in the next one! 
> 
> P.S. I think I have actually have the rest of the plot decided so yay! This should be about half way.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vishkar is a horrible group I have been doing my best to express my opinion of how horrible they are and this is another bit of that. I do not go into to much detail but their is physical abuse explained.

Since Satya had begun to revisit her past her mind had decided to keep re-piecing  her life together and even though she did not want to do it consciously her unconscious mind did. It was at its worst when she was asleep and she couldn’t steer her mind away from those trains of thought. And so while she slept she was forced to remember. Her memories always picking up right where her discussion with Genji had left off.  

.o. .o. .o. .o. .o. .o.

The image of her sister’s tear stained face followed her for three days while the Academy played news of the disaster on a loop. Her sister’s final line haunted her and rattled in her brain drowning out everything else: I have lost everyone I cared about. She mourned for their family forgetting about her little sister. Satya and Priyanka had been close.  And they had the same eyes, their grandmother’s eyes, dark; the color of the coffee the adults drank every morning. And so even seeing herself in the mirror reminded Satya her sister had abandoned her and reminded her of the family she’d lost.  She couldn’t even write her sister. Because she was a well known actor now her information was protected. Not that she knew what she would write if she could. How could a she forget Satya unless she decided she didn’t want to remember her? And so instead of being angry she decided she did not care.

It was easier than she thought it would be. Satya let herself be distracted by her new curriculum. She and a dozen or so other students had been pulled away into the program. They were given new rooms in a building dedicated for all of the students on their same course. The subjects she studied changed, everything became more complicated and more in- depth. She began studying business and architecture. Language moved from theoretical studies to practical use and business level conversation.  Her favorite part, however, had be what was called “studio time” it was required but it was time where she could practice hard light manipulation outside of the restrictions placed on her in class.

 This new course also emphasizes physical form as a way to help improve manipulation so she was required to exercise more, which meant more time to dance. Dance at the academy was not what she’d initially expected. While she was free to practice the traditional dances she knew, she had to do so in her own free time as the primary dance taught at the academy was ballet. It did not matter though, she loved both. 

Every student in her year was ranked and although she worked hard she held her place in the top of her class thanks to her near effortless ability to manipulate hard light. This caught her teacher’s attention who in turn passed on the news to Vishkar’s hard light researchers. As hard light was still mysterious, her success and her ease in using it fascinated them.

Vishkar had successfully developed a system that allowed them to find children who showed an aptitude for hard light manipulation but after that initial assessment which students would excel and which students would not could not be predicted. Would you help us learn more about hard light? They had asked her. She remembered the feeling of pride and eagerness that had lanced through her body.  When she had answered “Yes.”

She was visited at the Academy, usually on Saturdays to avoid any scheduling conflicts with her classes. A group of researchers would take over one of empty labs and tell her what they wanted to test. 

It must be her movements. 

 This was their first hypothesis.  Her unique movements were mapped but even when other students copied her forms precisely they could still not exact the same results.

Her electric fields must be unique.

They used a modified TENS machine to increase the electricity she was exposed to. That also did not change her abilities. Even when she was exposed to near damaging levels it only reduced her abilities in relation to the levels of pain she was in.

Maybe it is a hormonal imbalance?

Her base levels were not unbalanced for a seventeen year old girl and their attempts at manipulating them did not yield any results. Although the courses did sometimes leave her feeling extremely unwell. And like the TENs therapy the only change in her abilities was decrease in relation to her physical health. 

Light is simply a form of radiation she must have some unique relation to that radiation

And so she was exposed to different kinds and different levels of radiation; topically and internally. Medicine had progressed, they said, so the levels they exposed her to would not hurt her in the long term. 

They looked at her circulatory system, her nervous system, her lymphatic system, her brain. They took samples from every system they could: blood, saliva, lymphatic fluid, bone marrow... 

They did exploratory surgeries. They manipulated her sleep patterns. They even gave her several experimental drugs. 

And nothing gave them the answers they wanted.

 This continued on for years. And sometimes, after whatever procedure they’d attempted for the day, when Satya was feeling unwell; her head hurting, her stomach churning, and the world twisting; she would grab onto her desk to hold herself up and look into the mirror above it. She would focus on her own eyes to ground herself. No matter how she felt her own golden eyes would keep her from being overwhelmed. 

She was grateful to have Vishkar, she’d tell herself. And she knew in her heart it was true.

Without them she would have nothing.

She belonged here.

 She was helping them make the world a better place. 

They had taught her to order her mind. 

To use what had once been her weaknesses as strength. 

She was never hungry, and she always busy.

She was happy.

When she watched the news at night, it was no longer restricted now that she was in her final year at the Academy, she saw all the pain that was in the world on the faces of the people and she wanted to do something to help lessen their suffering. 

It was in Vishkar’s power to save the world. And they would. People were always something for someone to inspire them.  Overwatch had filled that gap for while but their popularity had begun to fade and the people had started their search for something new to inspire them and she knew Vishkar could do that. Vishkar would provide order and give the people of the world something to rely on.  Vishkar would finally bring the world to the harmony humanity craved. And if anything counter to that rose to the surface of her mind Satya immediately buried it  under water.

     She let the holo play as she packed up her room. She carefully packed her books into a hard light box. She picked up a rock she’d had for so long she’d polished it in places with her fingers. Running her finger over the smooth surface before she set it down on top of the last book. 

    She set the box beside a second by her door.  Her whole life rested in those two boxes. Well... all accept for her new uniform hanging in her wardrobe ready for the graduation ceremony tomorrow.  

In two days she’d move into Utopaea and start the next chapter of her life. In a two days she would no longer be a student she would be an Architect. 

.o. .o. .o. .o. .o. .o.

Satya woke from her dream, no it was not a dream. A dream would imply that when she woke she was not afraid to close her eyes, again. And just the thought of going back to sleep was enough to make her heart skip in anxiety. She sat up. Her room was bathed in moonlight. She was back on Gibraltar.

 She had traveled back with Lena.  Emily was staying in London for the time being  meaning Lena have been rather somber on the trip back. 

Satya wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She had never felt so restless after waking up from a dream but she did not think she could fall back asleep. 

So instead she stood pulling on a pair of baggy Overwatch branded sweatpants and matching sweatshirt. Even though she’d bought new clothes there was something about the sweats that she liked.

She left her room wandering down the dimmed hall deciding to get a glass of water. It was strange how quiet the dorm was and she couldn't help but muse that this is what it must have been like before Winston initiated his recall. She stood deciding to explore the area while it was quiet. At this point she knew the place as well as one could but seeing in this dimmed light gave it a different energy. In all honesty it seemed suited for a horror movie. She left her now clean glass in a drying rack in the dark kitchen and made her way towards the recreation room. She stopped before she’d reached the door hearing the sounds of someone beyond. She opened the door a crack. Genji had re-dyed his hair while she’d been in London back to the vivid green it had been she arrived.  And she could see it when the holo screen flashed brightly. He was playing another video game. She waited until the match ended to announce herself.

“I am wondering if you do anything other that playing games badly.” She said grinning.

“Satya! I’m hurt.” He said moving his headphones around his neck.

Satya moved to sit on the couch next to him looking at the results displayed on the screen. 

“Is that the unbeatable friend you insist on competing against?”

“Yes but she is not unbeatable, I’ve won against her once.”

“Yea when I DCed, doesn’t count buddy.” A voice came through the headphones its owner must have been screaming to be heard. 

 “I agree, winning against a incapacitated opponent hardly counts as fair.”

“I have to take any victory I can he argued. You are welcome to try and feel my pain first hand.” 

“I would be willing but I would not like to do so over coms, please take no offense but I am not comfortable with it at the moment.”

“I’m sure she understands, she’s streaming at the moment anyway. Its on push to talk anyway but I just wanted to make sure she heard what I said about winning  because she is a poor loser. I will let her know you are switching.”

“D.Va I’ve got a new challenger for you.” He unplugged the head phones letting the game’s sound and her opponents voice filter into the room. 

“---right I never say no to a new challenge,welcome new friend let’s do this.”

They moved in the lobby and waited for the game to start.

“I am surprised you are still up?” Satya said as they waited. 

“I am equally surprised you are up.” 

“I could not sleep.”

“Are you feeling unwell.”

“No I simply had a dream.”

“Dreams don’t normally cause someone to wake up.” 

“Alright it was a nightmare.”

“What was it about?”

The game started and Satya fell silent as she began to concentrate. It was a difficult game and although she did not doubt she would lose she still could not help but feel a small twinge of frustration as the screen turned red and announced her loss. 

“Good game. You’re better than SparrowHawk, it’s nice to finally have a real challenge. Alright everyone that it for me for tonight. Thank you so much…..”

Satya stopped listening as D.Va closed out her steam over the voice chat turning the volume down before she even thought about it. She realized she hadn’t answered Genji yet who had not asked again giving her a way out if she wanted. 

“I am confused,” she started trying to piece her words together carefully, “About how I feel. I was dreaming about my life at Vishkar Academy and although I remember it fondly I can not help but feel anxious.”

“One of the first things my master taught me,” Genji said, “was that sometimes what we feel is not always how we feel.  I told you I was angry at my brother after he injured me.  Beyond that I felt sorrow, rejection, envy, fear and so many other things. It was too much and so I hide it all behind anger. It became a way to keep me from becoming overwhelmed. Maybe the same thing is happening to you, You should speak to him he may be able to help you too.”

“I think I may. I do not want to lose any more sleep to this. But for now I am not sure what I want to do. I do not want to go back to sleep.”

“Would you like to watch a movie with me?”

“I do not want to keep you up.”

“You won’t be.” Genji said catching her eyes. She looked away.

“Thank you but I think I should go back. I should not let this get the better of me. Goodnight Genji.”

He nodded accepting her decision.

“Good night Satya, sleep well.” He leaned forward to take the remote to switch off the holo plunging the room into near darkness before the dim light came on to keep the room from being totally dark. Satya stood and headed back to her room her heart fluttering at, she assumed, the idea of going back to her room and the chance of revisiting her memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Horrible abuse under the guise of medical research is framed by video games, friends, and helpful advice. I hope you enjoyed! I did math for you... ( I had to look at a OW time line to figure out about what year Satya graduated)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating a little bit late sorry, I was away for the weekend.

Despite waking up in the middle of the night Satya still woke up early. She had fallen asleep quickly despite her fears and she could not remember dreaming. She felt restless, though, so she got up and changed. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and left her room making her way to the track. The color seemed muted in the morning light but it was still as garish as it was every time she’d seen it. She put in a pair of earbuds that were connected wirelessly to her holo and started a playlist she’d found in Athena’s archives that was labeled as her target bpm. She hoped to run five kilometers but instantly began to notice how much her endurance had withered from not running regularly for the past few weeks. She mentally chided herself and forced herself to continue. 

“I thought you only ran when forced.” She heard Genji say as he fell in step beside her.

“I am forcing myself.” She replied as her alarm ticked at two kilometers.

“How far are you running.” He asked.

“Just three kilometers, I’ve just completed two.”

“Lets race for the last kilo,”

“ I’m sure you could easily beat me because of your prosthetics.” She was working harder than she would like to admit to keep the strain from her voice.

“They do not allow for extended periods of atypical movement besides no matter what my legs what to do, my heart and lungs must be able to keep up.”

“Very well but no wagers, we still have the standing one.”

“Deal.”

They kept pace with each other for a few more minutes in silence. 

“Have you heard the joke about the bear and the hikers?” Genji asked suddenly.

“No I do not think I have.”

“Would you like to hear it?”

“Go ahead.” She said knowing there was no point in resisting. 

Genji smilied.

“So two friends are hiking in the woods they stop to camp for the night and they are awoken by some strange noise they look out from their tent and see a bear. One man sat down and began to put on his running shoes. His friend asks ‘what are you doing,’ and the sitting man replies.   ‘We have to make a run for it.’ and his friend says, ‘Are you crazy! You can’t outrun a bear.’ 

‘No,’ the first man says, ‘ I don’t need to outrun the bear. I just need to outrun you.’”

With that he set off at a sprint into the last lap. Satya started after him keeping close behind him in the first corner. She was gaining on him by the time they turned the second but he began pulling ahead on the straight away. Satya often denied being competitive but in that moment she could not. She again began to gain. She made it to the inside of the track on the third corner and by the fourth they were neck and neck. They crossed the finish line slowing to a walk both breathing heavily.

“I am sad we did not make a wager.” Genji teased.

“You did not win.” Satya said appalled he thought he did.

“Yes I did, it was close but I definitely won.”

“Liar.”

“I’m sure Athena was watching lets ask her. Athena!” 

“Yes, Agent Shimada?” Athena’s voice came through from seemingly nowhere.

“Did you see our race.”

“It was recorded on the surveillance footage.” Athena confirmed.

“Who won?”

“One moment.” Athena said and they waited. 

“After my analysis, I can confirm without a doubt that it was a tie.”

“What!?” Genji yelled as a smug smile stretched across Satya’s face.

“Thank you Athena.” She said her smile seeping into her tone. Genji huffed indignantly.

“I do not mean to interrupt ,” Athena’s voice came again, “But Winston has requested that both Agent Shimada and Agent Vaswani report of a meeting in the main conference room at 0900.”

“Alright we will be there,” Genji confirmed. “Agent Vaswani.” He said now smiling Satya felt herself blush. 

“This is the first time I’m hearing of it.” She said looking away.

“But still congratulations.” 

“Thank you, I am going to shower and change before the meeting. Have you eaten?”

“No, I was on my way when I saw your running.” Genji said

“Would you like to meet in the kitchen to have something quickly?”

“I will see you in the kitchen by twenty till.”  He said as they walked back to the dorm entrance. 

Satya grabbed a change of clothes and headed to the showers. When she was done she pulled her still damp hair into a bun to keep it off her shoulders and met Genji in the kitchen. They grabbed a light breakfast. Genji insisting Satya split an apple as they walked and she indulged him. When they reached the conference room Winston and McCree were already there and Satya could not help but think how easily McCree had fallen into the quasi leadership role alongside Winston.

“Morning, hope we didn’t wake y’all up.” 

“On the contrary I was busy beating Genji in a footrace.”Satya said poking a still tender wound.

“You did not beat me.”

“It was a tie.” Satya confirmed. McCree smiled.

“Well, once the elder Shimada gets here we can start.” He leaned back in his chair.

“How’ve you been Satya, I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to you since you got back. Been holed up with Winston trying to figure this thing out.”

“I’ve been well, I enjoyed seeing London.”

“Yea, London’s great, granted last time I was there it was not the most peaceful place.”

“You also have both your arms,” Genji added and McCree made no comment. The door slide open again and Hanzo entered dressed in an Overwatch t-shirt and sweats.” His arms crossing as he stopped. McCree sat up immediately clearing his throat. “Alright guess we can start now, glad you could join us Shimada.” Hanzo nodded but Satya saw his gaze kept flicking to Genji. 

“As you know we are supposed to be layin low. Talon has some new tech and we don’t want to be caught unawares. However Winston, Mei, and I have be doing our damnedest to figure out what they are using and we are coming up with zilch. Not to mention laying low doesn't exactly forward the plot. So instead we thought we’d try something more offensive and that’s where you two come in.” He said gesturing to Satya and Hanzo.

He paused to bring up an image of a man Satya did not recognize. 

“This is Andrea Bartalotti,” McCree said, “If that name’s familiar Genji thats cause he’s the cousin of Antonio Bartalotti. You remember him right?”

Genji did not respond but nodded once his face had darkened. 

“He’s hosting a fundraiser for a new art museum that focuses of Italian Renaissance painters at his home in Rialto and there is a good chance, like his cousin, he keeps sensitive information on his private computer.” McCree pulled up images of the same fundraiser for different charities from past years. Showing it to be a very ornate event. “We are hoping we can get what’s on his computer but in order to do that we need to get into the event and with the exception of you two, Satya and Hanzo, the rest of us are too well know to Talon.”

“I am known to Talon?” Hanzo commented.

“Yes but they don’t know you are here, working with us. And you showing up at a Talon event claiming you may be reconsidering their offer shouldn’t be suspicious. And you won’t be doing anything suspicious. Satya is the most anonymous of us and she said she had experience with this kind of operation so we want her to do the main infiltration you will be there as support to her.”

“What if someone recognizes me?” Satya said realizing if this was a mission against Talon she could indeed run into some who recognized her.  

“It’s doubtful your only affiliation was with Vishkar and Talon and Vishkar have no records of ever being involved with each other. And even if they did they think you are dead. 

Satya nodded feeling guilty no mentioning her meeting with Sombra but she would not risk their trust. She was sure she could deal with Sombra is it came down to it.

“Alright,” She agreed her heart jumping. “What do you need me to do?” 

“Well, we’ll help you build a cover, the short version is you got the the event slip away from the party and plug a thumb drive into his computer, or one of the computers on his system which will then search for anything useful to us. After that you get out. We luckly have still have the records of the layout of the villa on file so you won’t be going in blind. Of all the mission we could run this should be on the easier side.”

“This seems like a very formal event…” She trailed off.

“Ang said she’d lend you something. She’s had to go to a slew of this kind of prissy events because of her research.”

Satya nodded feeling the anticipation of the mission begin to build in her.

“When is the event.” 

“Two weeks, plenty of time for you to get ready. You won’t be able to get any weapons in but with Hanzo here you no have not one but two masters of hand to hand combat to help you out. And Genji is here too.”

“Fuck you McCree.” That broke the tension in the room. They still had plenty of work to do however as they crafted Satya and Hanzo’s covers. Tickets for the event where purchased and when they had finished Satya went back to her room with a new life to learn. 

Two weeks passed quickly Satya sparring with Hanzo almost daily. She was glad to spend the time with him as she hadn’t been able to since she’d gone to London.

“You are good,” He said during as they took a water break during their last session.

“Thank you, it was an important skill during my previous life.” She said taking a sip of water.

“It seems like it was a difficult life.”

“Ironically I remember it mostly fondly. I do not enjoy violence but I did enjoy the problem solving aspect.”

“I am curious about what your opinion of Vishkar is now after what the’ve done.”

“I can hardly condemn the whole company just because of my personal treatment. I think Vishkar has a chance to make the world a better place they must have felt backed into a corner after my capture. Talon is a violent organization who will take advantage of any weakness, by removing me they proved that they are strong.”

“But still, if not for luck you would be dead.” 

“I knew of Overwatch through Vishkar it was not my personal actions that saved be but the fact that Vishkar gave me access to it. Vishkar saved my life as far as I am concerned. And it is not the first time they have done so.”

“Y’all mind if I join you?” McCree called appearing through the door of the training room. Catching and holding Hanzo’s gaze for a moment longer than seemed necessary.

“Not at all,” Hanzo replied setting the bottle down and wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

“I look forward to beating you again.” 

“I let you win, darling. Didn’t feel right beating you with your student watch’en.”

“She hardly counts as a student and you insult me if you think my self esteem is so low.”

McCree let a smile crawl over his face but Satya did not miss the flicker of doubt in his eyes.

“Would you like to spar with my McCree? It would be nice to have an opponent other than a Shimada. I mean no offense but your respective styles and strategies are similar.”

“None taken, it is a good idea, McCree is more of a brawler anyway and should you run into trouble it is more likely that that uncouth style will be what you face.” 

“You insult a man like that anymore, darling, and he may be obliged to do something about it.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Hanzo said good naturedly. As they unconsciously seemed to square up to each other. Realizing they were soon likely to forget their entire purpose here Satya decided to remind them. 

“Are you two done flirting I’d like to remind you that this is my last chance to train before the mission begins tomorrow and I would like to take full advantage of it.”

 Both men stood down and Satya did not miss the awkward flush they had.

“Ready whenever you are McCree.” Satya said replacing her mouth guard and moving into the center of the mat. McCree grumbled as he pulled of a pair of gloves. 

Hanzo had not been lying about McCree’s style and although Satya had on some level expected it she regretted not sparring with him sooner. Hanzo was always looking for a hold. Any punches or kicks were to get her to move and to corral her like he wanted to make that possible. He worked on getting her on the mat and immobilizing her. It felt more like dancing at times with Hanzo. But with McCree it was like a freight train looking for a knockout. After blocking an early puch she felt the power behind it and almost gasped. She resolved to do what she could to not get hit and just hoped she could outlast him.

“Not that we are particularly pressed for time but we can’t keep dancing around each other forever,” McCree said after another minute.  And Satya agreed although she didn’t say anything. She moved to mirror his stance however indicating that she would fight more offensively.  When McCree went for a clinch she let him before repaying him with a swift headbutt that broke his focus. Satya was then able to get a grip of him and forced him to the mat. 

Hanzo barked with laughter.

“Well that ain’t fair.” McCree mumbled through his mouthguard. 

“I doubt any real life altercation would be considered fair she said. He has still not tapped out she she did not move.

McCree struggled for a bit longer before slapping the mat twice in rapid succession. Satya released him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really unsure who I wanted to win this fight but since Satya is about to go on a mission I felt she'd need the confidence boost. Did you notice my Deadpool reference? It was also my way of tellling myself off for my slow plot.


	14. Chapter 14

They arrived in Rialto three days before the event to give them time to prepare. They were booked in three seperate hotels to help keep anyone from placing them together. So she checked into her room, alone looking every bit her part. Her Italian had never been fabulous but she managed to schedule a private car for the event easily enough.  She spent the next two days exploring the city. Learning routes to get in and out quickly if something went wrong. She found Andrea’s home and matched the outside to the blueprints she’d studied in preparation. She walked around one of the many little harbors and saw the window his cousin had fallen from. By then she only had a few hours until the event began. She could already see staff hurriedly preparing. She headed back to her hotel to get ready. She switched on the holo for the noise as she waited. Angela would be coming to meet her soon with a dress for the occasion, But until then she watched the news. 

“Dr. Mei-Ling Zhou is being celebrated as a hero. She is the only surviving member of a team to climate research in Antarctic, After losing her team she hiked out and was rescued by a resupply team for another station. She comes to us today with a chilling statement about the research her team gathered….”

A knock sounded at the door and Satya moved to let Dr. Zeigler in. She stood ready with a black garment bag draped over her arm. 

“Dr. Ziegler,” She said moving out of the way for her to enter, “We’ve missed you at the watch point,” It’s been empty since you and Mei left.”

“I’ve missed you all as well but someone has to save the world,”She said with a chuckle.

She lay the dress down on the bed revealing a bag hanging on her arm. 

“I’ve brought makeup as well, a good friend has a very similar skin tone so these should suit you.”

“Thank you.” She said as Angela got to work.

Satya did not know what to expect when she stepped out of the car. She was not sure if this was the kind of event that would attract media attention or if the connections to Talon would keep it private. It seemed it was somewhere in the middle; a few people with cameras huddled around temporary railings but they seemed uninterested in her as she stepped out of the car. However she was grateful for the little device Winston had given her that, on its lowest setting, would make any photos taken of her look blurry and out of focus. As she entered the building she switched it off knowing it would make anyone watching the security cameras suspicious. 

Her first goal was to start looking for those cameras. The schematics Blackwatch had previously attained could easily be out of date but to Satya’s amusement they were not. Nothing about this building had changed since that fateful Blackwatch mission. Satya couldn’t help but snicker at Talon’s hubris. She made her way to the bar, catching sight of Hanzo mingling near a fresco on the other side of the room. His face impassive.  He did catch her eye for a minute however but gave no sign or recognition. She ran her fingers through her hair as she waited for her drink when a very familiar face took the spot next to her.

“Ishita Bhimani,” Andrea Bartalotti said leaning on the counter.

“I’m impressed,” Satya said smiling, “whoever is whispering names in your ear is doing their job well.” She took a sip of her cocktail.  

  “With how much I pay them they better.” He said with a chuckle. “But I admit I took an interest in your name when I saw your donation. Also thank you for your contribution to the Rialto Renaissance Museum.”

“Oh, and why did you take an interest?”

“Events like this,” He said waving a hand to gesture at the room around them. “They are all the same, same people, same food, same music, anything new is worth taking an interest in.”

“I hope I do not disappoint.” She said.

“You have already surpassed my expectations, your dress is beautiful.” 

“Thank you.” It was a beautiful dress. Satya’s first though had been made of melting gold. It hung asymmetrically on her right shoulder metallic toned fringing swirling around her figure over a beautifully textured fabric.

“Tell me about yourself, why did you come here tonight. Surely not just to spend the money.”

“To be honest, I was curious about your home.” She said hiding behind her drink slightly.

“I have an interest in art, completely amature, but I heard about the beautiful frescos you have tucked away in this gorgeous house and saw this as my best chance to see them in their full glory.”

“Their full glory?”

“Yes, I believe frescos are meant to be admired during revelry, it reveals their unique energy.”

“Please don’t let me keep you then, my home is open to all my guests.” 

“Thank you, for your generosity in opening up your home.”

“It is no trouble, I have no secrets.” He joked before his face turned serious and Satya tensed, “I am sorry for asking but I can’t help but have a morbid curiosity.” His hand lifted to brush against her prosthetic. “Did you lose your arm or was it freely given.” 

She was surprised by his question but after a moment she recovered. 

“Taken,” she replied making a quick decision, “bone cancer, luckely my dance career had already ended.

“You were a dancer?” 

“Yes ballet.”

“What happened?”

“Even today the accepted body type for a ballet dancer is a very narrow range. It was decided I did not meet that criteria.”

“They are fools.”

“You flatter me Mr. Bartalotti.”

“Please call me Andrea.” He reseted a hand on her shoulder briefly. “If you will excuse me, the little man in my ear is reminding me I can not hide here with you all night. Please enjoy the party.”

He disappeared into the crowd and Satya relaxed slightly. She had not expected Andrea to approach her personally.

Still slightly shaken she revolved to start moving toward her goal.  She climbed the gilded staircase and moved slowly around the hall. Her eyes gliding over the frescoes and paintings adorning the walls. They really were beautiful. She glanced up to see the ceiling painted not unlike the Galleria Riccardiana in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi with the ceiling looking like it gave way to the heavens.

 She made her way towards her goal with the pensive walk of any museum goer. Satya had never felt any love for renaissance art. While she admired the skill and dedication of the men and woman who created it she found herself disenchanted by the vanity of most of it.

She ‘d reached the door she sought and as she appeared to examine a canvas beside it,  she switched on the distorter to its highest level, acting like a weak emp that would cause the camera’s to stutter for just a moment and unlock the door. That was when she moved, quickly entering the room. 

The room was dark obviously not apart of the event outside. She crossed the room and found the computer terminal she needed beside the desk. She took out the drive hidden in one of the battery casings for her prosthetic, the integrated holo wasn’t usable while the battery was gone but the lining on the battery compartment kept the drive from being detected. She plugged it in and it began its work.  And not five minutes later it was done. The light on the drive flashed green and she pulled it from the machine replacing it in the battery casing. 

Satya crossed back to the door and waited this was the most dangerous part, what was outside. She couldn’t know that from here so from the same battery casing she took the tiny com unit and placed it in her ear letting her hair fall over it hiding it. 

“Symmetra reporting looking for a ride home.”

“Great to hear from you Sym, we are on our way all green light between us and you.”  She heard McCree’s voice confirm through the com as soon as she heard it she flicked on the distorter and left the room. The hall was empty, now all she had to do was get out. She started back the way she came still trying to keep her wandering stroll  but  was feeling anxious, as one does when they are carrying the contents of a terrorist’s computer on their person. She started down the stairs moving slowly and deliberately. Her com unit buzzed in her ear before falling silent again. 

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” A familiar voice said and Satya felt her heart ice. She turned and saw Sombra standing on the step behind her.  

“And here I thought tonight would be boring.” She smiled tapping a finger to her cheek. “Why are you here, Overwatch?” Satya didn’t answer.

“I saw the glitch you know. That was clever, I’d love to get my hands on it. Maybe we can arrange a trade. You give me that and I will pretend  I never saw you?”

Satya opened her mouth to speak glancing around the room and in that moment she was something that made her stumble; falling back causing Sombra to reach out and grab her shoulder to keep for from falling over. Satya’s hand twisted up finding Sombra’s and holding on.  She pulled her down the stairs and half hid the two of them behind some statue that Satya couldn’t find herself bothered to identify. 

“What’s wrong.” Sombra asked concerned with the turn their conversation had taken despite herself.

“I.. it, I …” Satya tried but she could not organize her thoughts. 

“Calm down,” Sombra said, “ Breath, what’s wrong.”

“I...Sanjay is here.” She finally managed. 

“Sanjay, Sanjay Korpal, yes of course he’s here.”

“Why... Are Vishkar and Talon? Why are they together? Is that why you said that before at the cafe.” But before Sombra could answer Sanjay turned and began walking towards the stairs if Satya did not do something he would see her and it would all be over. 

“Kiss me,” She said.

‘What?’ Sombra asked but Satya didn’t have time to explain she grabbed Sombra twisting her so Satya was hiding behind her and kissed her. After a moment of shock Sombra kissed her back her lips parting slightly enjoying herself but Satya did not take advantage of it. After Sanjay had passed Satya pulled away. Noticing immediately how Sombra had flushed. 

“Wow,” Sombra said  looking as if she was trying to restart her brain.

“He would have seen me, I’m sorry,”

“Hey” Sombra said placing her hands on Satya’s cheeks, “its ok, go, get out of here. A kiss like that is worth one get out of jail free card.”

Satya did not say anything but stood there looking at Sombra.

“Go, before I change my mind.” Sombra winked at her and Satya came back to herself moving past Sombra and starting at an inadvisably determined pace. But no one seemed to notice as she all but ran from the building breaking into the warm night just in time to meet Hanzo in the car sent for them. 

“Are you alright?” Hanzo aske once they’d pulled away from the villa.

“I saw my old handler.” She said not answering his question directly.

“From Vishkar?”

“Yes”

“Are you alright?” he asked again.

“I do not know.” They were silent for a minute before Satya spoke choosing her words carefully.

“You and I are unique Hanzo, of all the members at the watchpoint you and I are the only two who were not part of the original Overwatch. We do not  have the same loyalty as the others. But I used to have that kind of loyalty to Vishkar and a few months away from them does not change a lifetime of commitment.

“I am grateful to Overwatch but I can not help but feel like I am a liability if Vishkar approached me I do not know if I would refuse.  I do not know if I could.”

“‘Loyalty,’ whether taken or earned can be difficult to change. It took me thinking I lost my brother to make me realize I could not remain loyal to my family. I am sure you will have many fights with yourself before you decide how you ultimately feel about Vishkar but  remember that they did try and kill you. And no matter your loyalty to them the more important question is; If they approach you can you trust them? Do not forget there are now many people who would mourn for you if you were lost.”  

She didn’t respond her mind already at war with itself. Hanzo parked the car and the got out meeting Mccree in the darkened parking garage. 

 

“Thank goodness, thought we’d lost you there.” McCree said

“I think my com unit malfunctioned. I am sorry.” Satya lied knowing Sombra must have been responsible the malfunction.   

 “It’s all seemed to work out all right but let's get out of here before something hits the fan.” 

They met up with Lena on the roof of the parking garage and settled in for the trip back to Gibraltar. Satya turned over the drive to McCree not wanting to be burdened with it any longer. 

“You doing ok?” He asked as she did, “ You seem a little distant.” 

“There was a Vishkar representative at the event.” She decided to answer honestly

“Anyone you know?”

“Yes, he was my former handler.”

“Did he see you?”

“No.”

“That’s good, sorry you had to run into him though it must’ve been difficult.”

“I am more concerned about why he was there. Vishkar very rarely interacts with groups they are not associated with and Talon’s interest run in direct opposition with Vishkar’s own goals.”

 “Well if we are lucky, he was just there for the art.”

Satya knew that wasn’t true but she stayed silent for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If your are interested Satya is wearing Hamda Al Fahim (spring/summer 2014 silver tassled dress with asymmertrical shoulder detail.) Posting from mobile now but I will try and remember to make a link later. 
> 
> So a... Sombra's back causing problems but also saving the day. I stole the kiss thing from Winter Soldier. I am like three chapters ahead and phew...


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update is a little slow I have been avoiding it. I will probably update again this week. 
> 
> I do not know if I am not as proud for these next few chapters because I am just frustrated with the story or if my brain is melting and I just can't write anymore...
> 
> Lucio starts out as a jerk, he gets better... eventually.

The rest of the ride back to Gibraltar was blessedly quiet. McCree and Hanzo had joined Lena on the bridge. Satya decided to hang back and sat in the main area of the Orca. The three in the main cabin were chatting quietly and Satya could not make our their conversation. 

She glanced up at the bridge feeling something she could not quite place seeing Hanzo at the station behind McCree; McCree chuckling at something Hanzo said. She crossed her arms trying to ignore it. 

They debriefed immediately after the landed. Which Satya was grateful for. Winston announced that something of a party was being help in the recreation room but Satya was uninterested in attending. 

She heard the laughter, though, as she passed by the door but luckily the door to her room blocked any unwanted sound filtering into the hall once it closed. She checked her holo and saw that Genji had also invited her to the event, “to welcome new arrivals to the watchpoint.” She did not reply but instead pulled the small purple piece of paper from the bottom on her desk drawer unfolding it debating what she wanted to do. She knew it was a risk but she felt she had to. She opened up her email and wrote:

 

From: unknown 

To: gonephishing69@------------

 

I apologize for my conduct. It was wrong of my to take advantage of you. I hope you do not interpret it as any sort of advance. It was not. 

                                    -- S

 

.o. .o. .o. .o. .o. .o.

 

“We would like to congratulate all of you who are graduating from the Vishkar Academy today, You all hold a distinct achievement; you are the tenth class to graduate from Vishkar Academy. And no matter what, whether you’ve been selected to continue on within the Vishkar Corporation or to leave us and take what you have learned with us out into the wider world, we would like to say we are honored we were able to have the chance to be your teachers.

"You have all proven you are worthy of a place at Vishkar Academy. And now we would like let one of your own speak to you. Satya Vaswani, will be continuing on to Utopaea as a planning and design technician. She has excelled in her studies here and truly embodies the principles of Vishkar Academy. Ms. Vaswani. ” 

Satya stood slowly aware of the eyes on her as she stepped forward the podium. It was made of hard light and she could not help but take a moment to admire is as she came to stand behind it. Her notes were already loaded on the holo that rested on in front of her. She looked out over the field of people. Those who had been offered a place at the Vishkar corporation like herself all wore their new uniforms and sat in the first few rows. She recognized her own classmates in that group. The rest had donned the black robes typical of graduates. 

She smiled and began her speech. 

“Good morning,” She said and the audience echoed her greeting. 

“I remember my first day at Vishkar Academy like it was yesterday. I admit I was nervous, I had just left my family for the first time in my life. But in spite of that I remember feeling excitement at all the opportunities that had now been opened for me if I chose to pursue them. We are so lucky. Our educations at Vishkar Academy has prepared us for the world. And what a world it is that we must now join.

"We are the generation born during the Omnic Crisis, and while we may not have to remember the horrors of war like our parents. We still have scars of our own. Many of us have not escaped unscathed. But we have taken that misfortune and turned it into something fortunate. We have seen the chaos of the world given to us and we now have the chance to bring a lasting order. No matter what path we take let it be guided by the principles Vishkar has taught us.

"We have a chance to design the future for those who are yet unborn so they may not know our pain. We will show the world that hard work and dedication are essential for peace. And we will use all the things we have learned here at the Vishkar Academy to help heal this world of the wounds of war. And so while we celebrate today, we can not forget that this is just the beginning.  

But at least we know when it is over we will be the ones standing victorious.” Satya moved back to her seat to her classmates politely applause. 

.o. .o. .o. .o. .o. .o.

Satya forced herself to go running again when she woke up. The memory of her graduation speech still buzzing in her head after an hour on the track mixing with her emotions yesterday when she’d seen Sanjay. She wondered if she should have stopped him and demanded that he tell her what had happened. He had been her handler and was an important public face of Vishkar but that did not mean he would know. Vishkar was a huge organization, no one person could be involved in everything.

She’d half hoped Genji would show up during her run. He had proven useful in helping her distract her restless mind. But he did not appear and she wryly assumed he was sleeping off his party from the night before. For all the help he’d given her he still proved to be at times to be remarkably immature.

 Satya stopped running walking a lap to cool down and then she sent Zenyatta a message asking if he was available for a discussion later today. He responded almost instantly that he was and that provided her some relief.

 She made her way back to the dorm and showered before gathering up her dirty clothes and taking them down to the laundry room. As she passed the kitchen on her way back she smelled someone cooking. She realized she hadn’t eaten yet and knew if it was McCree he would almost certainly be making enough for a small army, which is in some ways what they were, and if not then there was more than enough room for her to make something on her own.   

She opened the door and the smell of peppers and onion hit her more strongly causing her mouth to water. Although she was still frustrated she masked it for now not wanting to cause anyone else worry. She saw Genji first then the back of someone she did not recognize’s head. Genji looked up when she approached. 

“Good Morning Satya, did you sleep well?”

“Well enough, I am sorry I wasn’t able to attend your event last night, I was...tired after the mission.”

“No problem, it wasn’t really my party though, while you and the others were deployed we had four new members join us. Speaking of which, Satya this is Lúcio, Lúcio this is Satya,” Before realization donned in Genji’s eyes, “Excuse me, I‘ll be right back.” Genji said darting away leaving the two alone.

“Well, It’s nice to meet you,” Satya said extending a hand, “My name is Satya Vaswani.”

Lúcio smiled reaching to shake her hand but his look changed to confusion and then to realization as he dropped his hand without accepting hers. 

“I remember you, you’re Vishkar, you were in Rio before the explosion.”

“I was apart of the consulting team in Rio yes.” Satya said her tone becoming flat. As she realized the turn this introduction had taken.

“I remember the bullshit speech you gave. About people needing order even if they don’t know it.”

“They do,”

“And the part about good people not needing to worry about all the infringements on their freedom and that they should welcome them if it means they will be ‘safer’.”

“It is necessary, you can not have peace in chaos, only in controlled order. What you think of as freedom is an illusion that causes more harm than good.”

He gave a sharp laugh, “you sound like an infomercial. What are you even doing here anyway, spying on Overwatch?”

Satya felt pride flair in her and she responded in a clipped tone. “Why I am here is not your concern. You’ve said nothing that would make me trust you anyway. I would like to say however, just so their is no confusion between us, that no matter what our personal relationship may be from here on out or as is more likely our lack of personal relationship is please know I will be as respectful and supportive to you as I would be to anyone else here. I would hope you would do the same for me.” _Although I think it is unlikely_ she bit her tongue before she could add the last sentence.

“Yea whatever Vish-bitch.” Lúcio said smiling at his own joke before turning back to the cooking. Satya did not move for a moment then turned and went to the pantry grabbing an orange and a nearly empty bag of bread. As she moved to leave the kitchen Genji opened the door.

“Sorry, forgot about my laundry.” He said then asked. “Satya are you alright?” 

“I am fine,” She didn’t look at him and focused on the knuckles of her prosthetic.

He noticed the food in her hand.

“Not going to join us for breakfast?” 

“No I thought I’d join Hanzo for a walk instead.” She lied.

“Ok, See you later. Be careful.” He took a step back out into the hall to let her pass before moving into the kitchen himself, the door sliding closed.

“Is she alright?” She heard him ask Lúcio. She hesitated waiting to hear the answer.

“Don't know. She didn’t say anything.” Lúcio replied. Satya went back to her room. 

She knew she could not hide there forever so after she ate she reluctantly went back to the kitchen to throw away the bread bag and put the orange peels in the compost.

Her holo showed a notification and she opened it see a message from Zenyatta saying that he was available whenever Satya was and that he would be in the south garden.

The kitchen door opened and Satya was greeted by two new faces: a tall fit woman with auburn brown hair and a smaller woman in an oversized pink hoodie with a rabbit on it.    

“Hello,” Satya said cautiously wary from her previous interaction but knowing she could not avoid the interaction. 

“Ooh, Hi!” The shorter girl said smiling brightly, “I’m Hana.” 

“You are Genji’s internet friend.” Satya said recognizing her voice. 

“That’s me D.Va and this is Brigette.” Brigette’s eyes locked on to Satya’s arm.  

“Hello, how’s your arm doing?” She asked crossing the space between them and examining the prosthetic.

“I … it is fine.” She said her brow creasing.

“Sorry, I made it, I’m happy to see it’s suiting you.” She said realizing Satya’s confusion

“Thank you, it’s beautiful, I’ve enjoyed it.” Satya said not entirely sure how to compliment Brigette’s work.

“Thanks! It’s the first time I’ve done something like it, Papa and I have competing opinions on design and I admit I haven’t tried anything so sleek before. The engraving was a lot of fun but almost drove me mad.” 

“It is a beautiful detail Satya offered.

“Where do you have the sensitivity sensors set at. Papa and I are still quibbling about what the most accurate to life should be measured at.”

“Only about 75% I originally set it to 50%” Satya admitted, “The sensor technology in my original prosthetic was less advanced and even 50% felt overstimulating at times but as I’ve adjusted to it I’ve gradually been turning it up. 

“Let me know when you find the most comfortable level, McCree keeps his around 89% and Genji’s are at about 93%.”

“I will,” Satya’s hopes beginning to raise despite themselves at the friendly conversation.

“Brigette was about to help me set up my rig if you’d like to come with us.” Hana said. “Might not be too much to do but it shouldn’t take too long.”

“I’m sorry I’ve already promised Zenyatta I would meet him.”

“No, problem.” Hana said with a wave of her hand. “You and I will have to play again soon though as repayment.” 

“I doubt I will be enjoyable competition.”

“You never know besides it’s good team building. I can’t wait till Brigette finishes that holo course then we can really show off some skills.” 

“You are here to help fix the course?” Satya asked.

“Yea, papa helped build it but he’s been pretty busy lately so I came instead. I am also hoping I can convince Winston to let me join up.”

“I look forward to you finishing your work Genji and I have a bet in regards to the holo course that I would like to see settled.”

“Ooo,” What are you betting.” Hana asked.

“Unfortunately the exact terms have not been decided.”

“Dang, ok.”

“I have to go it was nice meeting you two.” 

“You too see you later, oh shoot, I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Satya.”

“Okay see you later Satya.” 

“Let me know if anything feels funny with your arm.” Brigette added. 

Satya nodded and continued on her way. She did not see anyone else as she made her way to the garden. And despite herself her frustration began to return. For now spurred by Lúcio, wondering if he would be able to be mature about the situation they found themselves in or not. She’d seen how a capricious nature could ruin someone's life.

She knew she’d heard Genji introduce him correctly and she knew he was well know. Something to do with music. That made it worse.

Celebrity had a way of removing people from the impact of their actions. She tisked to herself evaluating the situation. With everything else she should not be worrying about Lucio but she could not help but worry about him working to uproot her precarious position. 

_“My name is Hunter Wryn I’ve been assigned as your new junior partner.”_

The voice filtered through her mind before she realized it and she stopped for a moment shutting her eyes and willing the memory away. Her memories were not supposed to bother her while she was awake. The thought dissipated for now as she focused solely on her bet with Genji. What did she want to ask for in the wager. She was tempted to ask for his spiderman pajama pants just because she knew he loved them. She had seen him more often that she wanted to admit wandering the dorms wearing them. But taking them just to tease him would be cruel . What did she want from Genji?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ah yea... I figure you can't move forward without falling backward a little bit. And this is the begining of that falling back I'm sorry Lucio is a jerk but as positive as he is I bet he can hold a grudge. And this just seemed like a natural course for that.
> 
> Let me know what you think! Or not, honestly I am going finish it either way because I have nothing better to do.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am updating twice this week cause I was slow and I will be gone till midweek next week.

The garden was tucked in a quiet corner as part of an old moral effort; a little oasis away from the industry of the Watchpoint. Zenyatta had been working to tame it since he had arrived. It had become a very peaceful spot she enjoyed visiting.

“Hello,” She called not seeing him immediately.

She stepped around a low wall and saw him planting something in a newly tilled bed.

“Hello,  he said noticing her. leaning back from his work

“Can I help?” She asked.

“Of course,” he moved to the side to give her a space to kneel.

He showed her how he was planting them and they began filling the bed.

“Is there something you  wanted to discuss.” He asked after a few moments of silence.

“I am not sure,” She said brushing her hands on her pants and wrinkling her nose when she noticed the dirt under her nails before reaching for another plant.

She realized she’d misspoken in the car after the Rialto mission with Hanzo. She and Hanzo were not the only people at the Watchpoint who did not have a direct tie to the former Overwatch.

“Why are you here,” She asked Zenyatta abruptly. He took a moment to form his answer.

“For my brother,” He said simply.

“I was unaware you had a brother.”

“Yes, I’m sure you’ve heard of him, his name is Mondatta.”

“Mondatta” She asked realizing. “I’m sorry for your lose.” She felt guilt now, asking.

“Thank you, it is difficult at times but I want to do what I can to honor his memory, in my own way. Although we have different opinions as to how; we both were working towards helping repair the wounds of the Omnic Crisis. With his lose many of our order have retreated from humanity but I do not feel like I can do that. It is even more important now that we do not hide. Genji invited me to do what I could here, and from his stories I think Overwatch can do good so here I am.”

“I saw someone I knew during the Rialto mission.” She said.

“May I ask who, was it someone you were close to?”

“Yes, he was my old handler.”

“What exactly did that relationship entail?”

“During normal business activities he was my senior. I  acted in some ways like an assistant but more like a partner, although he always had the final word. I would go to some meetings and events in his place if he was busy. He was my roof, when he moved up in Vishkar I was set to fill his place I think actually ‘apprentice’ would be the best word to describe my position. During my less public activities he acted as my guide he gave me directions, observed, made sure I understood my objectives, provided information and backup, and acted as an anchor.”

“Would you consider him a friend?”

“No, he was my senior and I respect him greatly but he was not  a friend.”

“But you worked closely together so it is inevitable you had a relationship even if it was a professional one.”

Satya nodded.

“What did you feel when you saw him?”

“I was afraid.”

“Why?”

“I was worried he would recognize me and jeopardize the mission.”

“What else?”

“I was confused as to why he was there.”

He gave a little hum.

“I…” She started and then stopped.

“Do you think you would go back to Vishkar if you could.” Zenyatta asked sensing the words behind her hesitation.

“Yes,” Satya said; the word releasing with the tension of a snapping kite string.

“Why?”

“They are making the world a better place.”

“And yet they threw you away so easily.”

“They had no choice,” She argued, “Talon is a violent organization they needed to make a point they could be just as ruthless.” She was not looking at him her gaze fixed on the middle space of the garden wall.  

“At the cost of an innocent life?”

“I am not an innocent.” She rebutted in a quiet voice.

“No but your death would have been without meaning.”

“It would have had meaning.” She quickly responded braking her glaze and glancing at Zenyatta’s impassive face for a moment before looking away.

“Are you so eager to be a martyr?” Zenyatta asked.

“They are the only reason I’ve lived as long as I have if not for them I would have died years ago as a child with the rest of my family.” She said her unspoken implication haunting her words. _Yes, they gave me my life it is only right they decide when to take it back._

“How do you feel about Vishkar’s goals?” Zenyatta asked changing the line of questions before Satya became defensive or too lost in the implications.

“They are making the world a better place,” She said again. The repetition of the phrase providing some bit of comfort.

“Do you truly believe that?” He asked

She nodded. “Yes, what could be wrong with wanting to create order.”

“Even at the expense of others freedom’s.”

“What is the point of freedom if you live in fear?”

“Can not order cause fear as well, though?”

“No true order, like Vishkar seeks to achieve, will do nothing but good.”

“Do you think it is possible to achieve true order? Is not some level of chaos beneficial and unavoidable?”

“No”

“But you know that life is chaotic by its very nature. The fact that life exists on this planet is because of that chaos. Can we deny something that is in fact our very catalyst for existence.”

Satya tensed finally becoming overwhelmed.

“How can you try and lecture me on this, you are a machine and an example of order, if you can not see the necessity of what Vishkar is doing then there is no point in speaking about this.” She said but she did not move and Zenyatta spoke again.

“Yes I am a product of attempted order. But I was also created without free will or emotion and yet I think and feel.  I may have been born of order but in allowing some chaos to influence me I have become something closer to human.

“I do not doubt that you are pure in your desire to help humanity but I wonder if your methods are ones you truly believe are right or simply the ones you’ve been told are right.

“It has always been my impression that if something seems perfect that is the moment it has failed.”

“Improvement is always possible.” Satya allowed herself to agree.

“Yes, but if you believe in perfection there must be a point when improvement becomes impossible. Perfection and improvement cannot both be true. Do you think Vishkar is perfect?” Satya shook her head, “And so if Vishkar can be improved could it be possible they made a mistake involving you?  What if you were meant to help them be better and by removing you they’ve hindered their own efforts?” Satya felt the words ripple across the surface of her subconscious disturbing something hidden there that she could not quite place.

She was dragged from her musings, however, by a series of slow high pitched whistles in a rhythm she could not identify.

Zenyatta chuckled. “It seems we have woken Bastion.”

“Bastion?” Satya asked.

“Yes, come I will introduce you if you like, I would ask though that you try and keep from reacting too strongly. Bastion has had some negative experiences and has not quite moved past them.”

“Of course,” Satya said following Zenyatta as he moved the the blind side of the garden shed.

An omnic rested in the shade and Satya recognized a Siege Automaton E54 a “Bastion” unit. It was worn and rusted.  She had heard stories but had never faced one herself and she credited that as the reason she was able to remain impassive as Zenyatta introduced them.

“This is Bastion, Brigette’s father found him wandering the forest and thought it might be best for him to be brought here.” A little yellow bird fluttered down landinging on  Bastion’s head. “and this is Ganymede.”

The little bird gave a chirp as if understanding and Satya smiled.

“Hello Bastion my name is Satya, I am glad to meet you.”

She was not sure is she should offer her hand but felt  there was no harm in trying. It felt strange offering her left hand but given that Bastion’s right was a weapon she had no choice. Bastion seemed confused at the gesture before raising their hand and lightly touching it to hers, not quite a shake but endearing nonetheless.

Bastion gave a series of chirps and whistles Satya couldn’t understand but Zenyatta translated.

“Bastion is happy to meet you too and would like to know if you are going to visit again.” Zenyatta said then added. “Bastion will be helping me with the garden or from now on I will be helping Bastion. Bastion gave an excited whirl and Satya laughed not needing the enthusiastic sound translated.

She headed back to the dormitory after having promised Bastion she would visit again the next day. Despite he heaviness that hung over her, her conversation with Bastion had had lightened her mood considerably.

The first floor was empty and she let herself drift to the mirrored studio room before she’d fully realized she wanted to go there. The door opened and the light raised. She placed herself in the center of the room facing the one wall without mirrors and opened a playlist she requested from Athena not long after she’d arrived but had not touched since then.

The nostalgia of the songs rolled over her like a wave although her understanding of them had faded in the years since she’d first heard them. She did not dwell on that however because while the meaning of the words may have become fuzzy her body reacted on muscle memory to the sounds. She did not have the belled cuffs on her ankles but she could still hear them as she danced knowing exactly how they would sound as she moved her bare feet lightly tapped the floor, her shoes had been discarded as soon as she stepped in the room and now rested by the door, and her hands twisted in the familiar signs. Satya’s ever move telling a story.

The first song was a light hearted love story and had been one of the first she learned. Next the bells came off and she danced in their silence.  It was a long straining and complex dance but she felt she must do as much of it as possible. She asked the gods and goddesses to bless her with her movements  including her own silent pray as she did before moving on. She did not sing as what she wanted to say had been lost but she did what she could to make up for that in her movements once she reached the core of the dance.

Maybe it was time to start studying her native languages again.

Then the story started. Her body deciding the story she would tell. Most of this part of the story was her own improvisation and it was not until she was almost done with the sequence that she realized she was crying. The story she’d created being of longing with no happy ending in site. She moves on, in a way, running from the story she was telling, and she finished off the dance.

She finished with her eyes closed standing there her heart pounding in her ears. She was still crying and she sank down to her knees feeling slightly dizzy. She felt like something had broken in her mind and everything she thought she was was flooding revealing what lay below them. She heard a clap behind her and snapped out of her trance the flood waters receding the dams snapping back into place. She turned and saw Lúcio leaning on a mirror by the door.

“How long have you been there?” She snapped not realizing how deep into her own mind she’d fallen until that moment.

“Since the…” He gave a crude impression of a  move at the beginning of the dance.

“Didn’t think someone like you would be interested in something as creative as dance.”

“Someone like me.” She asked raising an eyebrow. “Tell me what exactly do you know about me?”

“All I need to know about you Vish- bitch.” He said winking. “Just ‘cause you can dance doesn't mean you’re any better that any other mindless drone. It just proves you have a good memory and decent coordination.”

“You were under no obligation to watch?” She said her voice cold.

“I heard the music and was curious,” He said with a shrug.

“I’ll leave you to your weird dancing. See ya Vish-bitch.” He left and Satya turned off the music sinking back to the floor.

“Athena would you turn off the lights,” She nearly whispers but Athena heard it and the lights dimmed.

_My name is Hunter Wryn..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bastion is precious and deserves to spend as much time in the garden as they want. Bastion deserves peace.
> 
> I remember reading at one point the Ana uses the feminine form of you for Bastion in Arabic so I am using they/them for Bastion. 
> 
> Also for half a second I forgot about Mondatta, but it was only a moment.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think.


	17. Chapter 17

“ Excuse me... Satya Vaswani?” Satya turns toward the opening of her cubicle trying to look open and welcoming even though she frustrated she had been distracted from her current project. 

“My name is Hunter Wryn I’ve been assigned as your new junior partner.” The young woman standing in the entry of the cubicle said.

She was wearing an obviously new uniform. Her long brown hair pulled up in the bun typically worn by all women with long hair at Vishkar.  Satya took a moment to process her posture. 

She is smiling pleasantly but the young woman held herself in away that revealed her anxiety, likely from introducing herself to Satya and in realizing she’s disturbed the architect.  She also seems mildly uncomfortable in her new uniform as she pulls on the hem of the sleeve then the hem around the bottom edge. Although it seemed to fits her correctly and should not be providing her any discomfort.

Her eyes were the most telling. They weren’t focused on Satya but instead flickered around the room as they catch the movements of little things in the office. There is also something in them that Satya can not quite place but she assumed it was part of the previously noticed anxiety.

“I was not aware I was being assigned a partner?” Satya said honestly realizing she had to say something in response to Wryn. It had already been an in uncomfortably long moment since the woman had introduced herself.  She turned back to her holo and opened her email but saw nothing. 

“I’m sorry I do not see any notification.” She said.

“No, I am early, I do not officially start until next week but I am hear with an orientation group and I was looking at the personnel files as part of a project and I saw that I was going to be paired with you so I just wanted to introduce myself, but I should probably get back to my group.” Satya raised an eyebrow at the admission, the personal files were not public information and were not accessible by most employees.

“That would be for the best, if you are indeed to be my partner I would caution you to be more attentive to the rules it is improper to be approaching me like this.”

“Right, I’m sorry, I’ll go now. I apologize for the intrusion.” Wryn hesitated for a few more heartbeats and Satya was sure Wryn was waiting for her to reply. 

“Goodbye,” she said simply turning back to her project her mind still trying to place what she’d seen in the young woman’s eyes and having no luck. 

Sanjay informed her of the fact a few days later explaining the specifics Wryn had not mentioned. 

“Is she going to be my partner?” Satya asked after he’d told her she and Wryn would be working together. Wondering if this meant she would be moving into a position like Sanjay’s. 

“No, think of her as an understudy.” He had corrected. “ She has her own handler and while you may be working together on more complicated missions most of the time she will be on standby to act as backup or help. If you are unable to complete a mission she will fill your place.”

“I understand,” Satya confirmed not letting her mind wander as to why they had chosen now to do so she would not let herself hope at the idea of a promotion.

She had to train and work with Wryn extensively. And she was partially responsible advising Wryn when her handler was not around. Anyone watching would see a friendship developing between the two but the more time Satya spent with Wryn the more wary she grew of her. 

There were the more obvious things that frustrated Satya. Wryn liked to disobey orders and instead liked to do what she thought was best. Satya quickly grew to resent Wryn although she did her best not to show it. Wryn was stubborn and unneedfully willful. Any remark Satya made was met with sarcasm or some other witty response. But Satya preferred it to when Wryn became silent. 

She couldn’t help but feel something was wrong with Wryn. Wryn, given the moniker “River” would slip into this strange silence at times, the first incident Satya had seen she realized the look always present in River’s eyes....madness. It blazed to life when she had the chance to draw blood, figuratively and literally, even if it was just in simulations and only refrained from doing so on actually missions,  when the opportunity presented itself, because Satya would hear River’s handler screaming in her ear against it.

“What’s wrong,” River said to a security guard. Satya could not hear if the man made any response and she rushed towards her partner. Their objective had been completed, they were supposed to be moving to their extraction point but River had decided instead to circle back to where she knew the single unconscious security guard had been left.

“River,” She called when she got to the doorway seeing her junior standing over the man who was unarmed, bound, and wholey defenseless.  River was smiling. She glanced at Satya her eyes partially obscured behind her visor but Satya could feel River’s gaze burning into her. 

“What?” River asked head tilting. 

“We are wasting time. We’ve gotten what we came for. We need to leave.”

“But he’s seen us?” She said looking down at the guard who was in fact awake. His gaze fixed on the weapon above him. River engaged it and the man groaned as the beam attached to his chest. 

“Wryn,” Satya said with as much command in her voice as she could manage. River’s weapon disengaged. 

“He has seen us,” She said grinning as she realizing what Satya had said. “And know he knows my name, Satya.” Satya felt herself grow cold as she realized her mistake. Satya’s face grew emotionless as she retreated into herself. The man’s death could not be avoided now and she had been the one to ensure that. River engaged her weapon again finishing the man off. Once he stopped  moving River holstered her weapon lifting her hand and bending a long sharpened staff from hard light which she then drove into the man's chest. Satya turned away not wanting to watch. She heard River cross the room her shoes almost soundless on the floor. 

“Well,” River said, “What are we waiting for, let's go home.” 

She was not sure why Vishkar allowed Wryn to continue on missions as she seemed like more of a liability that anything else. After the incident with the security guard Satya had voiced her concerns, it was her job after all to find weaknesses, but she was ignored. 

“I know you don’t like me, River said months after that particular incident. They were changing after a sparring session Satya paused for a moment before answering.

“That is not true,” she lied, “I think you are disorderly and you often jeopardize our objectives, you frustrate me but I do not hate you.” She left out her displease at River’s apparent lack of regard for the lives of others. 

“I don’t care if you don’t like me,” River said nonchalantly pulling her long brown hair from its bun letting it fall in messy curls around her face.

“No one should like their replacement.” She said with a toothy smile before taking her bag and leaving the changing room. Pausing at the door her gaze looking Satya up and down before resting on her arm. “You should watch your back Satya, you can’t be the favorite forever. Bye, bye.”

Satya stood watching the door as it slide closed her hand moving to her prosthetic without realizing it as she remembered the aftermath of that particular mission. 

That wasn’t the only time River had done something to risk a mission with Satya but it was the only time Satya had lost control so completely. When they had returned Sanjay had pulled her aside to console her.

“It is alright,” He said, “Casualties are to be expected in this line of work, everyone makes mistakes.” 

“Even though you broke protocol you should not let it bother you. He was our competitor.” 

“I was saving this.” He said changing the subject. “But I think you need to hear it now. You need some good news. The Hard Light research division has something new they’d like to try and they want your help. You’ve always been a model employee. I know you’d love to participate.” Satya nodded slowly accepting. Knowing it would be explained in full later. Vishkar had a policy that any procedure required the participant to be fully informed and consenting. She was lucky they valued her input.

“We think we’ve found a way to improve your hard light manipulation.” The researcher said.

“By integrating the manipulation components directly into your arm it will remove a step in between and it will reduce some of the interference within your body during utilization. The artificial nerves will transfer the signals your brain sends just as well if not slightly faster than your organic nerves.

“We have discussed all of this with you before but before we begin we need to confirm with you one last time that you are informed and willing to undergo this procedure. 

“Your left arm will be removed just below the shoulder and you will be fitted for a prosthetic. Artificial nerves will be  grafted into your shoulder. And to prevent wear around the prosthetic’s contact points you will be fitted with synthetic skin.

We’d also like to say thank you for what you are doing. It is with your participation that we are able to make such advancements in our research. Vishkar is indebted to you Ms. Vaswani.  Do you comprehend the procedure and its risks to the best of your understanding and do you consent.”

“I do,” Satya said feeling a shutter of anticipation run through her before the anesthetic pulled her down under the current.

She panicked slightly when she woke  feeling off balance and like she was falling. And she followed the movement jerking but thick padded leather belts held her in place. She took a few deep breaths to try and calm down as her mind reordered itself. Her entire body was sore from the anesthetic and she wrinkled her nose at the bitter taste it left in the back of her mouth. She was not in a private room but had a curtain drawn around her and she could see the shadows of nurses moving around her as well as hear the sounds of their work.  The curtain pulled back to reveal a nurse.

“Good you are awake.” She said making a note. 

“We were worried you would be disoriented when you woke so we fastened the restrains to keep you from potentially hurting yourself. They will be removed once we confirm you are stable. 

Satya nodded but regretted it her head feeling strange and cotton stuffed.

“You are still being affected mildly by the anesthesia.” The nurse commented noticing Satya’s discomfort. “But your shoulder has been fully healed and you will not require any more pain medication. You will most likely be prescribed something for anxiety to make sure the situation doesn’t overwhelm you.

_ Situation?  _  Satya though moving her hand to pull her hair away from her face like she had done a million times before now but nothing happened.

_ Ah _ she thought remembering. She made herself look. But she waited till the nurse had left her.  She felt hot but but she shivered the air feeling too cold around her. Her stomach twisted in anticipation. She turned her head with her eyes closed before slowly opening them her heart pounding in her chest and she looked to where her arm should be resting on the bed. But it wasn’t there.  She turned her face back and focused on the curtain directly in front of her. She took deep breaths focusing every ounce of her will power on to ordering her mind and working through her irrational reactions. 

She knew exactly what procedure she’d elected to undergo.

Everything had been explained to her in detail several times before hand.

What she was feeling was undoubtedly the leftover bits of medicine in her body causing her to panic.

She had no reason to panic. 

She was safe.

Vishkar was making her better.

She could trust Vishkar. 

This is where she belonged.

Vishkar was making the world better.

Order from Chaos.

Order from Chaos.

_ Order from Chaos… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all its really hot here. I can hardly stand it. So this is my explanation for Satya loosing her arm. I believe Vishkar is awful enough to take someones arm for no reason. River is a homage to another River who's story reminds me in ways of Satya's. So yea this isn't all I've considered for River but it's all Satya knows. Maybe there will be more later about River. ;P   
> Thank you so much if you are still with me. I really appreciate it.


	18. Chapter 18

Genji is the one that found her there. Sitting in the same spot she she’d been in when Lúcio left. Her hand had found its way to her prosthetic and when Genji arrives she saw her gripping it with white knuckles. He came and sat in front of her.

“Satya,” He said quietly, “Are you feeling alright? Athena notified me you’ve been here a while.

“I’m fine,” she said instantly regretting her decision to speak as her voice contradicted that fact. It did not crack, she did not stutter, but it sounded hollow.

Genji did not question her statement but he also didn’t move.

“I just need a moment to order my thoughts.”

“Is something wrong with your arm?” He asked noticing her white knuckled grip on the smooth metal.”

“He asked me if it was lost or freely given.” Satya said quietly in that same hollow tone.

“Who?” Genji asked.

“Bartalotti, during the mission he asked if I lost my arm or if it was freely given, I lied I said it was taken, I lied.”

She knew logically Genji could not know the memory she had been reliving but at the same time she didn’t understand how he couldn’t know. It had been so vivid she was sure it was plastered on the mirrored walls.

“Can I ask what really happened?” He asked.

“I gave it… they said it would make me better… that I was helping. I just wanted to help. Vishkar is making the world a better place.” Her last line did not offer the same reassurance it usually did.

She could not meet his gaze but she could feel his eyes brighten with understanding.

“Hey,” He said hands moving to her shoulders. “It’s not your fault. It was wrong of them to do that.” Genji said.

“No, I am good enough, that’s why they needed to make me better but they couldn’t. I am too weak. I knew I was giving it. I agreed, but it still affected me poorly. I’m greedy. They are better off without me.”

“Satya.” Genji said trying to pull her out of her rambling.

“Satya...look at me.” He said. Satya did. Breaking her gaze where it had been fixed on the middle distance of the wooden floor.  Her mind starting to quiet.

“I’m sorry, I have had trouble ordering my thoughts recently.” She said embarrassed.

“Do not worry. It must have been difficult facing Bartalotti like that.”

“Vishkar was right in terminating my employment, if I let something like that bother me so greatly.” She was also talking about her encounter with Lúcio but she would not tell Genji that.

Genji did not reply. He stood offering a hand to pull her up. She accepted shakily standing. Her legs had fallen asleep while she sat and she hissed as the blood rushed through them.

“Are you alright?” Genji asked.

“Yes, I sat for to long.” She replied. “Thank you.”

“Have you eaten tonight?” He asked as they made their way to the lift.

She shook her head.

“You should eat. Lúcio made something, I can not remember what he called it but it is delicious there are plenty leftovers.”

“No, she said too quickly, _I don’t want anything to do with him_ but she found an excuse, “I do not think I could handle anything heavy, and I do not think I can be social.”

“Alright,”Genji said seeming to believe her. “I think there are still a few servings McCree’s beans and rice in the freezer? I can reheat it and bring it to your room?”

“Thank you,” She said retreating to her room as he opened the kitchen door.

She felt better the next morning although there was an annoying hollow feeling in her chest. She ate breakfast with Lena and Emily who’d returned to the watchpoint much to Lena’s delight. Satya enjoyed Emily and Lena’s lighthearted conversation as Emily teased her girlfriend.

When they eventually finished eating, the time was getting closer to lunch than breakfast, Lena’s face was as red as Emily’s hair as Lena was continuously bombarded by her girlfriend. And once Emily had finished talking Satya knew the entirety of the air duct incident. And Lena had collapsed, head resting  on the table padded by her arms, occasionally moaning for Emily to stop but making no show of actual displeasure.

After they had cleaned up their mess Satya packed somethings to eat later and spent most of the day with Bastion in the South Garden. Zenyatta was training with Genji so it was just the two of them: enjoying the view and the quiet.

Satya had been worried about her ability to communicate with Bastion but her fear were unfounded. Although she could not understand the specifics she quickly adjusted and, while they were not holding deep and insightful conversations, she could understand the omnic well enough.

Brigette came by at one point to check on Bastion. She seemed to be able to understand even Bastion’s most complex chirps and whistles.

“Papa says hi,” She said by way of greeting to the omnic. Who gave a happy trill.

Brigette laughed. “I’ll let him know. Hey Satya, how are you?”

“I’m well thank you, any you, how are you?”

“Doing great, the holo course is almost done so you and Genji better figure out the conditions of your bet soon or else you may not have the chance.”  
“Maybe I will just ask for the pajama pants, I am having trouble deciding anything more meaningful.” She mused aloud

“Ooh the spiderman ones? That would be perfect.”

Satya shook her head smiling Brigette hadn’t been here for two weeks.

“When are you planning to finish your work?” Satya asked.

“Should be done by the end of the week and then we can schedule the first match.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“ I saw you were scheduled to cook tonight. What are you making?” Brigette asked.

“Lasagna with sauteed vegetables and salad.”

“That sounds great,”

“Hopefully it will be alright it is the first time I’ve attempted it. “

“Anything I can do to help?

“I do not think so it  should be rather straightforward. But I should probably head back and start thank you for reminding me, have a good night Bastion.”

Satya stood and brushed herself off and started back to the dorm. The kitchen was empty when she arrived and she quickly made herself comfortable in the space pulling out the supplies she needed after she opened the recipe on her tablet to reference.

She made the white and red sauces and then began layering them between the noodles. She enjoyed the repetition of the task and it was not as difficult as she expected it to be. When it was done she placed it in the already heated oven and set the timer before getting to work on the vegetables.

The cooking process for the vegetables was not difficult but first she had to cut all of them which proved to be a tedious task. But eventually she managed. She tossed them in oil and began to saute them. She could not cook them all at once however and so had to saute them in small groups. She had a small amount of time in which she had to let them sit so she used it to prepare some garlic bread to go along with the lasana using a butter Emily had made the week before.

She heard the door open as she was moving one group of vegetables to a platter before adding more to the hot skillet. Once that was done she turned to see who’d entered the kitchen.

She was surprised to see it was Lúcio but she kept her expression neutral.

“Dinner will not be ready for another 30 minutes or so,” She said. “ I apologize for the wait.” She went back to the skillet.

“That ok,” He said and she paused his tone had changed he’d dropped the haughty attitude he’d had she turned back around to face him curious.

“Is there something I can help you with?” She asked concerned about this new development.

“I just...I just wanted to say I’m sorry I upset you.” Satya’s eyebrow raised.

“May I ask what your sudden inspiration was for this apology?”

“Genji told me about the shit Vishkar’s put you through and about how you ended up here.”

“What exactly did he tell you?”

“About you growing up with Vishkar, losing your family, about about how they tried to kill you.”

“And hearing all of this has convinced you you needed to apologize to me?”

“Yea,”

“Out of pity, now that you know about my life?”

“No one should have to go through what you went through.”

“I do not accept your apology.”  
“What?”

“You said it yourself. You are apologizing for upsetting me, not for the things you said. And furthermore you are doing it out of pity, because you feel guilty and you want me to ease that guilt you feel. And I have no interest in doing so.

“I do not want your pity, I would rather have your disdain because at least then you are thinking of me as an equal and not as something you feel obligated to protect. I will not be coddled.”

She expected him to get mad. She expected him to get defensive but instead he just left. The vegetable had started to burn so she quickly plated them before adding more.

She was angry. She sent a quick message to Genji telling him to meet her in the kitchen. He arrived not five minutes later. Satya sturred the vegetables before speaking.

“Why did you feel the need to discuss my life with Lúcio.” She asked.

“I asked Athena to look the video from when you were in the dance studio Athena also showed me the video from the kitchen while I was doing my laundry. It was wrong of him to treat you like he did.”

“So you told him.”

“Only because I wanted him to know what he was doing.”

“I do not need you trying to defend me. Now Lúcio has apologized to me out of guilt and I do not want that. I do not need his friendship. I do not need him to be nice to me because he feels pity for me. I do not need him to think of me as weak. I would appreciate it if in the future you did not reveal my personal information. If I want anyone to know about my past I will tell them myself.”

“I was just trying to help,” Genji said.

“I do not need your help, I am capable of taking care of myself.”

“Maybe you don’t need it but I wanted to. I realize now I did not handle it the best way and I am sorry.” Satya turned back to the stove extinguishing the fire and lifting the last of the vegetables off the heat.

“Is there something I can do to help?” Genji asked.

“No.”

Satya expected Genji to leave, like Lúcio had, as she covered the platter to keep the vegetables from cooling to fast but he didn’t.

“May I say something?” He asked.

“I can not stop you.” Satya replied coolly.

“I consider you a friend, Satya. I like you. You are interesting, capable, and amazingly intelligent. And it frustrates me that even if you are able to see those things in yourself it always comes with the caveat of how Vishkar valued them.

“They tried to kill you and you can still not see past your devotion to them to realize that they have betrayed you and hurt you. And you do not or can not recognize that their relationship with you was abusive.  

“I know our situations are not the same but talk to Emily or Zenyatta. I know they can help  you like Zenyatta helped me and while I am far from perfect I am much happier with myself. If not at least talk to someone else. While we have all had different lives you might be able to find something of value in their experiences. Very few people arrive in the lifestyles we’ve found ourselves by choice. Please? I don’t want to lose you.”

Satya was quiet while she decided how she wanted to answer. And while she was thinking the oven chimed.

“Would you take the lasagna out of the oven please.” She said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always feel like I have so much I want to write in this little box and then I click it and I forget everything. I feel like I have reached the summit and the end seems so close. I am amazed I have stayed so far ahead of myself (knock on wood). 
> 
> I am mostly writing for myself and I can't believe how long this story has gotten for those of you who make it this far. Hi! Hope you are enjoying it. If nothing else I am. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	19. Chapter 19

She spoke to Emily the next day, after asking her about it the night before. And then laying awake most of the night trying to chase away her busy mind. She made her way to a room near Winston’s and knocked. Emily opened the door revealing a tidy office. With several very comfortable chairs.  
“Satya, glad you found it. Come in.” She followed Emily into the office. “Please sit, would you like something to drink?”   
“I am alright, thank you.” She said taking a seat glancing around the room.   
“This is one of the old shrinks rooms. Winston said I could steal it but besides cleaning it up I haven’t really used it much.”   
“It seems like a nice space.”   
“I have high hopes for it. I’m glad you decided you want to talk.”   
“I admit I still have some reservations…”   
“That’s fine but if it helps know that I will not think any differently of you no matter what you say.”

“I am not sure where I should start.”  
“May I say something then?”   
“Please.” Satya said.   
“Having gotten to know you. I think you have a good understanding of yourself and you have a good set of skills to help you but because of that I think that may make it even harder to move forward. When I was younger, I had an archery phase. In archery there is this thing called stack. It is when you draw a bow and it become more and more difficult to draw. And the more you try the more sure you are that the bow will snap. I can not tell you if my understanding is correct, but eventually the bow will again become easy to draw. If you can endure, it will be faster and more accurate because of the extra energy in the limbs.   
“People can experience the same thing when we try and know ourselves. We think we understand ourselves but then it become more and more difficult and you worry that if you go any further you will snap. It’s a way for our minds to try and keep us safe. But we should do what we can to push through it, to understand ourselves better, to realize all the things we hide in water and, to bring it to the surface to see what we want to let root.”   
“Hide in water?”   
“Its from a poem; _Landing Under Water, I See Roots_ . It’s on the database if you’d like to read it.”   
“I have not had much luck understanding poetry I can never quite interpret it the way that’s intended.”   
“That is my favorite thing about poetry and literature; how you understand it is the most important thing.” Emily said smiling.   
“I think I’ll have some tea, are you sure I can’t tempt you?”   
“Actually I think I will have some,” Satya decided running her thumb in circles on her wrist.

Emily stood and made her way to an electric kettle on a chart by a small window.

“Like I said, you seem to be amazingly in control of your own mind and I think it is interesting. From what you have said about Vishkar they sound like they have a deeply complex system.

“They present themselves as a modern, enlightened organization that cares deeply for it’s employee’s mental and physical wellbeing. And when you look at it on the surface it seems perfect but then little things catch your attention. They limit your contact with the outside. The carefully choose the media you see. Even if it is an objecting opinion it is selected because they know they can use it for their own narrative.

“They let you think our are developing your own opinions but they are in fact the one Vishkar wants you to have.  And if you, as an individual, start to feel uncertain about anything. Those things they taught you come into play and you begin to think it is something within you that is incorrect and must be changed internally. Because they have given you, what you think is, your own opportunity to arrive at their philosophy. When in fact they’ve been guiding you all along.”

“So it is like poetry?” Satya said after digesting what Emily had said. “I have been taught to think there is one meaning, and if I can not see that meaning I am wrong and have to change my thinking to find that meaning. But you say it is not so much the meaning that is important but how I arrived to it and what it means to me?”

“Yes,” Emily said offering her a warm mug before sitting down to continue.

  
She recognized at it as prideful but Satya could not bring herself to seek Lúcio out for a few days. Although she spoke to Emily almost everyday, in between. Emily and Satya’s discussions were the reason she had decided to speak with Lúcio. Finding him was harder than she expected and she had to ask Athena where he was after wandering the base for over and hour. Athena directed her to a lab over near Winston’s but in a different hallway from the where she met Emily.   
She found him there tinkering with something which she recognized after a moment.   
“Is that Vishkar sonic technology?” She asked to announce her presence. Lúcio jumped and faced her.   
“And if it is?” He said defensively.   
“Did you steal it.” She asked although the answer seemed obvious.   
Lúcio snorted, “Steal it, nah, my dad invented it. Then Vishkar stole it from him.”   
“Vishkar does not steal technology.”   
“Really?” Lúcio said, “Every company steals technology. What do you want anyway?”   
“I came to apologize,” She admitted. “It was wrong of me to treat you as I did before. I was feeling prideful but that is not an excuse. I will endeavour to keep the promise I made; however much we may disagree as long as we are both working with Overwatch you will have my support. Goodbye” She turned to leave.   
“Wait,” Lúcio called jogging to meeting her at the door.   
“You were right before, I should’ve apologized for my actions not for how you interpreted them. So can I have a redo?”   
“If feels silly giving you permission to apologize to me but go ahead.”   
“I am sorry for what I said. I shouldn’t have treated you they way I did. Can we start over?” He asked offering a hand.   
“Hi, I’m Lúcio I am a DJ and and social activist. I’m hoping I can make the world a little better with Overwatch.”   
Satya smiled feeling silly but she accepted his hand.   
“My name is Satya Vaswani, I am a former architect with Vishkar. I too just want to try and make the world better.”   
“Nice to meet you Satya, I can’t guarantee we’ll be best buds but I’ve got your back if you ever need me.”   
“Thank you, may I ask what you are doing with that,” She asked genuinely curious and not able to stop herself. As she had been involved with the Hard Light division she had not always had time to explore the other areas of Vishkar’s research.   
“It’s a sonic amplifier it uses sound waves as a projectile, I can also knock people standing too close to it back a few feet if I need to.”   
“Interesting.”   
“Yea my dad also figured out a way to actually transmit low levels of biotic healing and adrenaline through music. So as long as you can hear the music I can help you out.”   
“That is not very subtle?”   
“I’m not trying to be, I want them to know I’m coming for them.” He said. Satya smiled.   
“I will let you work then, I am curious to see it in action.” Satya did not want to impose on their fragile ceasefire for too long.   
“Alright, see ya later.”   
But the she stopped.   
“Actually…” She said. “If it is not too much of a problem may I ask you something?”   
“Shoot,” He said.   
“Why are you here?”   
“This lab, or Gibraltar, or like on this planet?”

“Gibraltar, you were not part of the original Overwatch. You would not have gotten the recall notification. So why are you here? I am curious.”  
“The selfish answer would be to get access to better tech.” He said setting down the tablet he was using to check the sonic gear and leaning against the workbench.   
“I guess I mostly just agree with Winston. The world needs help and since I’m capable of helping I want to. Rio made me realize that I can’t... _we_ can’t let things happen and hope for the best. If we want something we have to be active and fight for it. So I want to do what I can to keep people safe and inspire them to remember the power they have.”He said   
“Thank you.” Satya said, “I will leave you now. Good luck with your equipment.”   
“No problem and thanks.” Lúcio answered.   
Satya left the lab made her way to the training range. The holo course was getting its grand reopening in two days and the sense of competition was growing among them.   
Athena was in charge of organizing the courses and she was keeping it confidential leaving even Winston in the dark as to the plans. She seemed to be enjoying her task, though. Which frightened everyone thoroughly. So many of them were spending extra time training to try and prepare for whatever horror’s Athena was preparing. She was not surprised to find Hana and Lena there practicing. The charm on the end of the grip of Hana’s pistol dancing as she shot.   
“Hey Satya.” Hana said pausing and waving at her.   
“Hello, are you two anticipating Athena’s holo courses too?”   
“Yea based on what Brig had said it's gonna be awesome and I want to make sure my aim is ready.” She said using her free hand to make a finger gun at Satya. “phew,” She pulled the imaginary trigger.   
“What do you think it will be like?”   
“The best VR range available,” Hana answered her eyes glazing over slightly as she imagined it.   
“If it’s the one Winston was working on before Overwatch was dissolved that’s a pretty good idea.” Lena added bouncing over..   
“Eeeeek, I can’t wait,” Hana said. “I wish I could stream it!”   
“Sadly I do not think that would go over well.” Satya said finding herself smiling and Hana’s enthusiasm.   
“I know but it would be so cool.”   
“I think Athena will record them at least so we can check them later.” Lena offered.   
“Ooh we should have a movie night with them afterwards.” Hana said.   
“They may not be enjoyable to watch?” Satya pointed out.   
“No they are going to be fabulous I’m sure.”   
“Maybe we can find some drinking game to play while we watch. That way even if they aren’t great we won’t care.” Lena suggested.   
The door opened at they all turned. McCree stopped looking awkward at all the eyes suddenly on him. “Y’all don’t stop on my account he said.”   
“Jeeeesseeeee.” Hana said launching herself at him and pulling him into the conversation. “We are going to have a party after the holo course you in?”   
“You might be able to convince me. You gonna make that pink stuff again?”   
“The Melony? Yea of course, it’s not as good as it is with a real Melona but the sherbert we used before was pretty good.”   
“Then I’m in.” McCree agreed.   
“Yes,” Hana said.   
“What brings you here?” Satya asked McCree making sure to add a lithe to her voice. “Are you also concerned for your reputation and trying to get in some extra practice?”   
“I’m just sizing up the competition,” She said realizing her tease and rising to it. “And I gotta say y’all are shorter than I imagined.”   
“Makes us harder to hit,” Lena said putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest.   
“You ain’t wrong ‘bout that, darling. Why do you think I need the practice?”   
“Then please don’t let us keep you.” Satya said stepping out-of-the-way so he could pass the group.   
McCree eyed them suspiciously before stepping past them all three training their gazes on him as he moved.   
“Y’all are kinda freak’en me out,” He admitted and Lena snorted breaking the tension.   
“Good, you should fear us,” Hana offered with a toothy smile.   
Hana and McCree ended up making the same bet Satya and McCree had earlier. Hana, however, made the ill-fated choice of betting their chores for the day; “Loser has to sort the trash.”   
McCree caught Satya’s eye his own with that mischievous twinkle in them and Satya knew then that Hana was doomed. Satya and Lena silently decided to forgo their own practice in favor of watching McCree and Hana. They listened to Athena’s countdown as they watched the two ready themselves.   
“5...4...3...2...1, Begin,” The first set of targets appeared and the two plowed through them before they had even finished setting up. Hana turned to grin widely at McCree as the holo showed her up by one.

Athena seeming aware of the need to challenge the two set up another set of targets this time from the opposite side of the room. And again all were knocked down quickly. From there the targets appeared from the floor and ceiling like some bastardized game of whack ‘a’ mole. They kept neck and neck.

Athena had scaled the damage recognized by Hana’s pistol to McCree’s peacekeeper allowing her to score equally against McCree. And the only comfort Satya took away from watching the two annihilate the targets was that at least they seemed to be trying very hard to do so.   
Lena’s arm wrapped around hers gripping tightly as the two moved into the final fifteen targets. They were still so close it was impossible to guess who would win. At the last ten Satya became aware of the tension she felt watching the match. And at the final five she found herself standing. And then it was over they all looked at the holo.   
“No,” Hana wailed collapsing to the floor as the holo displayed the final tally 99-100.   
“I lost to a cowboy,” She whined with an exaggerated sob.   
“Gunslinger, darlin, as I think I’ve just proven.” He said offering a hand to help her up. She gave one more frustrated sob before taking it and letting him pull her to her feet.   
“We are never speaking of this,” She said to the group.   
“Now don’t go being a poor loser darlin. You can’t expect me to keep that I out shot the famous Hana Song a secret do you?”   
“You will it you want to keep living,” She threatened without any true malice.   
McCree’s smile widened. “ I think we’d know how that would end. After all I am the better shot.” Hana huffed closing her eyes to calm herself.   
“Whatever, I’ll still trash you on the holo course.”   
“I’m sure you will. Enjoy sorting the trash tonight though.”   
Hana groaned again.   
It turned out that, just as McCree had said he wouldn’t leave Satya to do the dishes alone, he did not leave Hana to sort the trash by herself but instead helped her after dinner was done for the night.   
They then decided to watch a movie inviting everyone else to join them and, for once, Satya decided to accept.   
She arrived early enough to get a seat on one of the couches leaning on the arm as others trickled in. Brigette joined Hana who sat next to McCree. Lúcio came and sat on the opposite end of Satya’s couch and Genji sat between them with Zenyatta floating on the floor in front of them. Lena and Emily smushed themselves into an armchair and even Winston and Hanzo joined them. Winston finding a spot next to Emily and Lena and Hanzo sat on the floor resting his back on the couch McCree, Hana, and Brigette sat on.   
“Is Bastion joining us?” Satya asked Zenyatta as McCree and Hana bickered over a movie. “No, Bastion does not yet feel comfortable being inside.”   
“Well we’ll have to have a BBQ or something,” McCree said hearing them, “Don’t want Bas to think we don’t like ‘em--- Hana no.” McCree said before Hana tried to use the distraction to steal the remote from him.   
Given the diversity of their audience they settled on an kid’s movie.   
And Satya enjoyed it although she enjoyed watching her teammates reactions to the movie more. During the villain's reveal she could not help but smile at the looks of pure shock on many of their faces with Lena’s being the most expressive. She had to admit it had been and unexpected twist for her as well. She wanted to believe the simple narrative the story had told until that point.   
“This subject matter seems remarkably dark and complex to be the subject of a children’s film.” She whispered to Genji.   
“Do you think so, this is one of the brighter one of these I’ve seen.”   
“Really? I can not believe anyone would want to subject children to such depressing themes.”   
“It has a happy ending I promise.”   
“How can it? A majority of the characters are already dead?”   
“You will see.” He promised and so she waited. The movie did indeed end on a supposedly happy note but Satya still found it lacking.   
“They are still dead?” She said to Genji.   
“Yes well that can’t really be undone but they are together as a family.”   
“But what happens when there are too many photos for the table. What happens when the new generations of the family stop hearing the stories of their ancestors and if they stop putting their pictures up. Surely the line was older than the great-grandmother. Then those in the Land of the Dead will be forced to watch their loved one die again and this time they will be gone forever.” Genji stopped trying to decide how to answer.   
“Maybe there's something else after that,” Lúcio offered, “That they never talk about.”   
“Maybe but to leave that as an unknown hardly makes it a happy ending.”   
“I think adults are the only ones who’d notice that to be honest and it is a kid’s movie after all.” McCree joined in.   
It was late now so they all started collecting themself to prepare for bed. Lúcio calling after Winston as the scientist left.   
“This will keep me up,” Satya said waiting for the room to clear before stood.   
Genji chuckled “Would you like to watch another movie to distract you?” He offered   
Satya considered it, “are you going to bed?” She asked.   
“If you want to watch another movie I will join you.” By now all but Satya, Genji, McCree and Hanzo were left in the room.   
“McCree, Hanzo, would you guys be interested in another movie.”   
“Sure why not, Han?,” McCree agreed.   
“I was not planning to go to sleep a few more hours and as long as it is not something overly juvenile.”   
“What are we watching?” McCree asked.   
“Could we watch the movie from before “O Brother...” She trailed off to avoid saying the entire title.   
“Sound’s good to me.” He agreed.   
As the movie loaded Hanzo moved up to the empty spot Hana and Brigette had left.   
Satya enjoyed the movie much more the second time because she now understood some of the references better. Hanzo seemed lost at times. Satya noticed him whispering questions to McCree at various points particularly about the vocabulary some of the characters chose. And by the end of the movie Satya was trying to hide a smile and Genji was shaking trying to hold back his laughter at Hanzo’s attempts to grasp and use the word ‘bonafide.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something feels weird about the formating for this chapter but its also longer than I intended, there was alot of extra stuff that got added after the Shooting Star short came out. 
> 
> Also I hope my Vishkar stuff makes sense... My idea boiled down to, they teach legitimate things but mess up the focus to make it about Vishkar. 
> 
> If you are still here hi! Thanks for the read.

**Author's Note:**

> Symmetra is on of my favorite characters in Overwatch although almost all the characters are being proven to be more and more complex she captured my interest early on.
> 
> I also like to imagine how all the groups and people in the Overwarch universe are connected and so this is my imagining of how Satya may find herself apart of Overwatch
> 
> Viskar seems like a horrible organization and I wanted to explore how I imagine it and how it has influenced Satya and how she grows because of it.
> 
> Proofread by me, myself, and I.


End file.
